NationStates Jolt Archive

"Every generation needs a new revolution."
-Thomas Jefferson

Resi City was ablase. The cries of men, women and children resounded off the iron walls of the metropolis, melting away as the fires raged on. Countless lives were lost, crushed by the brutal technology that made their lives oh so civilized, but for what? This was not a revolution of the people, nor was it a military coup or the result of an A.I. getting too sentient. No, it was a new revolution, a legacy left behind by a long-dead CEO and his daughter, who was fighting to collect her inheritance.

Indeed, this was a war of two minds, two ruthless leaders contesting for power with but a horde of robots each as middlemen. The leader and CEO of the Resi Corporation, Johnathon Tetragammaton, was appointed by the last leader in a mild delirium. Regardless of the circumstances of his appointment, he was an excellent leader who knew exactly what he was doing in his seat of power. He had been expecting this revolution for quite some time, his appointment as CEO being barely two months old, but he could never have expected the source. Sara Resi, wrought of wires, circuits, and military ordinance, was his opponent. Brought back from a 100-year-old grave by still-unknown means, her cybernetic body houses all of the latest ResiCorp tech and then some. A line of code her late father CEO Jai Resi inserted into his older robot designs has not only kept her safe from elimination by a new government that would undoubtedly want her dead as a threat to the state, but has also given her an expansive army of strong but dated robots, as well as some automated planes. This leaves Tetragammaton with only two models of robots, the two strongest types of robots in the Resi Corporation.

The war of quality versus quantity has truly begun.

Johnathon Tetragammaton was in his office in Resi Tower, looking down upon the blazing city through the smoke that enveloped the tower. Down below a parimeter of R-5 (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/r5.htm) units and SOAT-bots (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/soat.htm) had been set up, with support from Plasma tanks (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/plasmatank.htm) and BPS Mecha (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/bps.htm) units near the base of the tower. He had smoked straight through 10 cigarettes in a row so far today, and he showed no sign of stopping. The news, displayed in the small, in-desk TV he had in his study, flashed with scenes of violence and destruction all acrossed the Resi Corporation, all labeled with the title "Robot Revolts Rock Resi City!". They obviously ment to go for the alliteration take, which the "C" in "City" ruined, but the catchiness of the title was entirely lost on John. He just sat there, watching the television as CNN reported on his falling empire.
"John?"
It was Angellica Kradii, John's Secretary. She had cracked open the door to his study a bit, a single ray of light illuminating her white-blonde hair in the darkness of the room.
"Yes Angie," John muttered, "You can come in."
Angellica flipped on the lights as she walked in, the warm, musky, smoke-filled air entering her lungs. She coffed a bit, not being a smoker herself, and positioned herself right in front of John's desk.

What followed was a moment of the most exquisite silence money couldn't buy, interrupted only by the voice of the reporter on the television.
"...and in the market district, massive civilian casualties were incurred as fighting broke out between outdated ResiCorp robots and newer models, with even construction models entering the frey. Early estimates are that over 6,000 civilians have been injured due to collateral damage from these..."
*click*
John tapped a button on his desk, and the TV immeadiately flicked off and stowed itself deep within the thick wood.
"It's a rogue A.I.," Angellica lied, not knowing why, "What else could it be?"
"You know as well as I do that this is a revolution, Angie," John said, still looking at where the TV had been moments ago, "There's no need to fool ourselves. Someone from some other nation has probably reverse-engineered the basic R-Bot (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/rbot1.htm) design and found out how to control them from the outside like we do."
"That's impossible," Angellica skoffed, "You know it. Now you're just being paranoid."
"Then it's some technician inside the corporation who doesn't have enough job satisfaction," John said, and he slammed his hand down on the desk, turning his head up to make eye contact with Angellica for the first time, "Damn it Angie! I know a human is behind all this. Their tactics, the way the robots move. It isn't standard procedure. These robots were programmed before the others were, and they wouldn't be programmed to fight our own robots anyway. So why, then, do they suddenly know every single weak point of our newer model droids and machines? Someone who knows a lot about our machines is doing this."
"But how does that rule out A.I...?"
"Because A.I. are lazy!" John interrupted, "They take the path of least resistance, relying on the A.I. of the robots to do the bidding of the one central A.I., at least any A.I. indecent enough to be a rogue does."
"Military A.I., then?"
"Damn it, it's not A.I.! We keep close tabs on every single one of our military A.I., as well as tabs on all data coming in and out and through the Resi Corporation. We would've saw this. It is NOT an A.I., period."
"Fine, no A.I.," Angellica muttered. She had never seen John in a mood like this, and was hopeful that she wouldn't again.
"If it's not A.I.," she continued, "What is it? WHO is it?"
"I don't know..." John admitted with a sigh, "Sypathizers for the old administration, possibly. Regardless, these riots are getting to be too bad. We might even have to call in our Raven (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/kmag.htm) Units (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/prota.htm) out of orbit for this."
"Raven (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/vek.htm) Units (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/massive.htm)?!" Angellica gasped, "In an urban setting? Sir, with all due respect this is our own city! These are our own people! If we brought in ordinance like that (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/ufarq.htm) you could very well destroy the city and everyone in it! Please sir, be reasonable!"
"I guess you're right," John sighed again, "It just feels like we've got an ace (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/zenith.htm) in (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/labor.htm) the (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/hopper.htm) hole (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/lysk.htm) that we can't use. It's frustrating, you know."
"Look, they haven't even attacked Resi Tower yet when they very easily could have with the kind of gurrilla tactics they use. We should at least wait for the other shoe to drop before doing anything."
"Right... use our un-brainwashed JUNKER (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/junk.htm) robots to put out the fires and rebuild, and set all patrolling robots to defend civilian centers. We want to protect our workforce, or at least give the rogues bad press when they attack them."
"Yessir."

((OOC: Just a little recap, this is a continuation of this now-semi-dead RP (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=397323), semi-dead because one of its central players decided to back out for no reason, but if he comes back the RP can easily be revived. Basically, after gaining control of the robots at the research lab, Sara used those robots to "spread the word" of her existance to others, amassing an army which she then used to attack Resian forces in retaliation for chasing after her. Most of the civilian deaths were caused by the Resian retaliation, as R-5's carry much heavier weapons than what Sara's army uses.

As for the open-ness of the RP, it isn't open yet, but will be after the next post.))

((Oy! When did Jai Resi die??))
taggers

((Oy! When did Jai Resi die??))
taggers
((OOC: Well, m'nation died out, and with it a lot of nations we were connected to like Eris and others, so I figured that Jai couldn't very well exist without Eris and when I brought my nation back I set it 100 years in the future. Sara had that whole suicide thing, and now she's back although she doesn't know how.

Post coming soon! I had to reformat my hard drive, so it gets priority.))

Tag, with a Mobile Suit task force (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/0083/rx-78gp02a.htm) on full alert.

Deep within the "abandoned" military base she was brought back to life in, Sara Resi sat contemplating the events that had transpired. She had broken out of some tube full of blue gel-like material, been assulted by robots and a succubus that came to consume her soul, chased after by some still-unknown figure whose base she now owned, ran into the second-highest ranking person in the Resi Corporation, and encited gurella violence all over the Resi Corporation by taking over robots.

Now, it was time to seize total control at last.

Her brain, now wired into the internet through a firewall, was completeing the complex process of hacking past sentient government A.I. and directly into the emergency broadcast beacon on top of Resi Tower. They hadn't changed the A.I. in years, obviously, as they felt no real need to. This made it all the easier for her to slip past them, knowing every single one of their flaws. What she was attempting to do had never been done before, not just in the sense that she was hacking the Resi Corporation, but in a much larger and more existensal sense. With a few twitches of her eyelids, the beacon was activated and all television and radio signals were ready for override. What Sara proceeded to put on the air was a scene like no other, not recorded by any video camera or using any actors. It was a scene directly from her mind. Every single television and radio acrossed the corporation flickered in static, white noise, that blanketed the island's communications. Then slowly, ever so slowly, the following broadcast faded in.

Sara Resi, wearing a slimming white business suit and skirt with her hair up in a bun, walked alone among verdant trees and fragrant flowers, keeping her eyes directly on the "camera", that is, the viewer of the message. She had a professional and confident air about her, none of this greenery so foreign to the corporation distracted her. Like a fine mist, the plants and life dissolved into a city scene that could've been at any point in the Resi Corporation, in any business district, between any two skyscrapers. She walked towards the viewers, then stopped abruptly. The "camera" zoomed in slightly on her face as she prepared to speak, making the audience anticipate the delivery of this strange message.
"Greetings, humans, robots, and catpeople of the corporation," she said with a smile and a loving yet almost enlightened look in her eye, "I... am Sara Resi. I truly am back, I know not how. I'm here to serve you, the people and the robots, by bringing upon you a new and more compassionate order that attempts to build a harmony in your lives, incorporating all our tallents into making this nation the best it can be. My father, the late Jai Resi, left the Resi Corporation to me long ago knowing that I would be best for its future, as I had been trained by his own hand at governing. Your best chance for another golden age like the one you had under my father lies with me, as I know how he achieved our prosperity. He trusted the people, something any other administrator would've shunned. So I ask you all now, does the current CEO trust you? Does he believe that you will work for your corporation's good? Or does he force you to work for him?
"As you may have guessed, I am behind the occurances of robotic violence throughout the Resi Corporation. I appologise for this incovenience, and promise to compensate for any and all damages incurred once I take office. Should you see robots fighting, please stay away. It is not their objective to harm you, but bullets don't know friends from foes.
"As for you robots out there, remember that I am the corporation. I have always been, and I always will be. Harming me or any of my robots is harming the corporation itself, and what I want I want simply for the good of the corporation. Therefore, I ask you all to meet at Eta Cappa Zed. Should any machines try and stop you, resist. Should any people try and stop you, ignore them and move on. Do not harm lifeforms.
"Good luck to all the citizens of the corporation, and Goddess bless."
The message faded from the televisions, the voice crackled off the radio. Sara had shut off the beacon.

"That went well," she muttered, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She turned to Shandaril the succubus, who stood next to her the entire time.
"So how about you?" she asked, "You never told me if you wanted in on this."

Outside the base, metallic feet thundered in unison as they all approached a single point. Millions of robots from all over the island were taking a trek, by any means necessary, to get to Eta Cappa Zed. They climbed aboard maglevs in hundreds, marched acrossed the land, clung atop cars as stealthily as possible, and did whatever else required to reach this end point.

((OOC: Now the RP begins! Obviously DragonsReach RPs as Shandaril, but anyone else can RP as a tourist or ResiCorp citizen getting involved in this migration of robots. Perhaps a robot got inside their cab, maybe it stole their plane ticket. Heck, maybe they were just walking the streets when the swarm of robots came marching down. Just a hint, the robots are ending up somewhere in Resi City, so if you want to be a continuing part of the RP I suggest your character be there or be headed that way.))

Shandaril placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward, "Why were you sent to hell?"

((OOC: Well, m'nation died out, and with it a lot of nations we were connected to like Eris and others, so I figured that Jai couldn't very well exist without Eris and when I brought my nation back I set it 100 years in the future. Sara had that whole suicide thing, and now she's back although she doesn't know how.

Post coming soon! I had to reformat my hard drive, so it gets priority.))

((OOC: Well, my nation died too, but my queeny is still alive. Though I did have to sarcrifice by adding that blasted extra "n" to my name. Pooey. Liked Jai too. Could have wipped up a little honey for Jai if ya just asked. ;) ::looks at new CEO warily:: Hrm, dunno if I like him yet. ::looks at Sarah:: Don't know her to well. Ack! And the time gap! Poor Danny boy wouldn't be alive to torment-er-"court" Washu. Pooey. Now I shall contemplate making a Resian ::goes off to think:: ))

((OOC: Well, my nation died too, but my queeny is still alive. Though I did have to sarcrifice by adding that blasted extra "n" to my name. Pooey. Liked Jai too. Could have wipped up a little honey for Jai if ya just asked. ;) ::looks at new CEO warily:: Hrm, dunno if I like him yet. ::looks at Sarah:: Don't know her to well. Ack! And the time gap! Poor Danny boy wouldn't be alive to torment-er-"court" Washu. Pooey. Now I shall contemplate making a Resian ::goes off to think:: ))
((OOC: Actually, knowing Washu, she'd have kept him alive for as long as possible. We gotz the tech, after all.

Real post coming tomorrow, sleep now.))

Er...so I am assuming that I am ignored now...

In Resi City, Resi

Among the news reports filtering in from around the known universe, one from CNN particularly caught Gisaga's attention.

...as the head of the Resi Corporation. Immediately after the message, various sources have confirmed the migration of a large mass of robots towards the Eta Cappa Zed location. So far, the only international reaction has been that of the nation of Tiburon, which has recalled its ambassador temporarily and sent a mobile suit task force from La Vie en Rose on alert, although military officers believe that there will not be any case in which they will be forced to act. However, the mass of robots streaming towards Eta Cappa Zed is believed to have severe consequences, as many believe that this shall be Sara Resi's army in her quest to topple Johnathon Tetragammaton. Because the Resi Corporation has a presence all over the country, the total number of casualties is expected to increase. While the present CEO has control over such machines as the SOAT and R-5 units, the overwhelming numbers of...

Gisaga turned off the TV and turned to stare out the window, with the late morning sun filtering through the light clouds hanging over the seafront. His apartment may have cost a lot, but views like these proved that it was worth it.

He was a rarity in Resi City- he was one of the few Tiburonese "pure capitalists" remaining. Despite being a mainly capitalist nation, the Tiburonese government was in charge of many projects, and had adopted a mix of capitalism and socialism, and the pure capitalists, which had emerged during the end phases of the Old Common Era, had opposed them. 200 years in the New Common Era, now, their band was dying out- not many at all supported them. The Resi Corporation-Empire complex was one of the few nations that closely, although not completely, lived the pure capitalist creed.

Still, at times doubt set in, and this was one of the times. A civil war? Is this really still Resi I'm living in? Whatever happened to free enterprise, commerce? Since when did this system turn from a free one into a monarchy of the CEO?

He had to get out, discuss with others, find what they were going to do. He would not stand for missiles in his backyard.

Er...so I am assuming that I am ignored now...
((OOC: Now, I wasn't entirely sure of what to do with your people sense the RP died out. They would've run into Sara in the RP, but the character Juan was entirely key in coordinating this, and he was the character that dissappeared. I just assumed that they and Angellica ran into her, Sara recognised Angellica by her resemblance to her grandmother, and Angellica tried to explain the incident as an uncanny look-alike prowling the base, which would just raise questions with the delegation. Then the party would move through the base with their SOAT-bots, who were immune to Sara's control, collect the data, and procede to leave. Any attempts to break away from the group to see Sara would be stopped by Angellica and the SOATs, on grounds that it was too risky. I'm assuming the delegation is still in town, visiting while the violence errupts. I appologise for the sketchiness of all of this, but it isn't how I invisioned it happening either.))

(Hmm, alright)

Vera sat quietly on the edge of her bunk bed watching the supposed "replicant" now present her demands for ruling the Resi Corporation.

"Well your eminance what do you think?"

"I think that Resi Corp wanted something out of her...Sera so they figured out a way of reviving her. Hell I bet the body's been in statis since her supposed fall." The priestess (known as Dr. Hill to the Resi Corp) walked out of the small bathroom and looked down at the screen.

"So what do we do?"

"I've been thinking about the creature on the cealing you mentioned."

"Yes?"

"It can't be a demon, but your sure it wasn't just some human like robot."

"It wasn't human, or totally human. I got that tinge...like when dealing with that loose fnord a few years ago...."

Priestess Zacka nodded quietly and looked at the small group of weapons laying on the table in the galley area. "If it feels like a fnord, then it isn't completely of this plane. Which means I should be able to begin to track it once I know what it is."

Vera nodded, "So what do I do..."

"The Resi Corporation has a major problem. Very major...they might want assistance from A.I.'s that don't have the Resi moniker on them."

"That woman Angelia is a major headache. Something was definatly wrong about all of this, and her."

Zacka nodded and went down to get dressed. Vera turned to begin packing her case for her next mission. After all, now suddenly a Sera clone had appeared. The Overlord of the Var would want to know why he had not been informed of this, and after all, the L.O.W were the only known source of armored anti-grav drones. Not even Resi Corp would be completely arrogent enough to hire some back up units.

Shandaril placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward, "Why were you sent to hell?"
Sara scratched her head.
"What's that got to do with anything?" she asked, giving Shandaril a puzzled look, "But now that you mention it, I don't rightly know. I suspect I'll find out eventually, but until then let's just assume it was from the old rule about rich people not being able to get into heaven unless we can get a camel through the eye of a needle. Should've probably told our R&D department to look into that camel/needle business..."
Adjusting her seating in her chair, her gaze on Shandaril returned to normal.
"So... are you in? You can always quit and go back to the pit."

"What I do about that question is dependant on your answer. What crimes did you commit in life, how did you die? Where a good person? A bad person? You can be honest, -I- certainly won't judge you", she said grinning. "As for the eye of the needle and camel thing the Queen did it. She used her magic. Multiple shrink spells on the camel and multiple enlarge spells on the needle. She's a tricky one, that one is."

...as the head of the Resi Corporation. Immediately after the message, various sources have confirmed the migration of a large mass of robots towards the Eta Cappa Zed location. So far, the only international reaction has been that of the nation of Tiburon, which has recalled its ambassador temporarily and sent a mobile suit task force from La Vie en Rose on alert, although military officers believe that there will not be any case in which they will be forced to act. However, the mass of robots streaming towards Eta Cappa Zed is believed to have severe consequences, as many believe that this shall be Sara Resi's army in her quest to topple Johnathon Tetragammaton. Because the Resi Corporation has a presence all over the country, the total number of casualties is expected to increase. While the present CEO has control over such machines as the SOAT and R-5 units, the overwhelming numbers of...
Johnathan Tetragammaton, who had re-opened the TV in his desk, watched the preceeding through the heavy smoke that laced the room in disbelief. He had lost track of how many cigarettes he went through hours ago, and now had a veritable fortress of them lining his ashtray. Not even taking time to smoke the cigarettes entirely, he subconciously snuffed them out in the ashtray about halfway through, and then lit another as a nervous habit. His current cigarette, which was half-finished and destined for the tray seconds later anyway, fell from his mouth onto his desk when he saw the newscast.
"They're sending mobile suits to help us? Kee-rist, how come the news picks up on this before our government does?"
His eyes shifted nervously, almost as by reflex, to a small green button on the side of his desk. He looked at this button for a full second, then in a flash pounded it mercilessly with the flat of his hand. His desk beeped loudly, and then a static-less version of Angellica's voice crackled over the intercom.
"Yes, John?" she said, trying her very best to keep her voice level so as not to excite him. She didn't know what exactly he was going to do, and she wanted to keep him as sane as possible.
"Angie," Johnathan exhaled, "Patch me into whoever the heck runs Tiburon, I have to speak to them about their mobile suits that they dispatched here. Speaking of the mobile suits, get a satellite fix on their location and tell me how long till they get here, and how big they are. Size is an essential factor, and we need the estimate to be as accurate as possible. ASAP, Angie."
"Yessir," she replied, slightly relieved that he didn't want to do something drastic like deploy the space fleet, before realizing what exactly he was saying.
Shit, someone's sending mobile suits?! she thought in a blind panic, They better be puny, or we're going to be facing a hell of a lot of collateral damage. We want the people on our side after all, not on the side of that Sara-clone.
Regardless, she dialed Tiburon's governmental HQ and worked her way up the phone service lineto the leader/head senator/potentate of some sort. She then switched the call to Johnathan's intercom.
"Done, sir. The potentate of Tiburon is on the line."
With a click, she connected the two and went off to gather the stats on the mobile suits.

Back in Johnathan's study, he had switched on the nanofilter, activly replacing the cigarette smoke with clean air. He relaxed a bit, the ball was in his court now.
"Hello," he said to the intercom, reclining in his chair, "I'm CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton of the Resi Corporation. I understand you represent Tiburon, the nation that was kind enough to send us these mobile suits to help us quell this pesky rebellion. Let me start off by thanking you for your support, and noting that no favor to the Resi Corporation has ever gone unrewarded. Now, before your troops enter the city, there are a couple things I'd like to discuss. For starters, how large are these mobile suits and what are they armed with?"

"What I do about that question is dependant on your answer. What crimes did you commit in life, how did you die? Where a good person? A bad person? You can be honest, -I- certainly won't judge you", she said grinning. "As for the eye of the needle and camel thing the Queen did it. She used her magic. Multiple shrink spells on the camel and multiple enlarge spells on the needle. She's a tricky one, that one is."
"Hm..." Sara mumbled, "I was considering liquidating the camel and pouring it through a needle, but that might be cheating.
"I wasn't a bad person in my past life. I wasn't a good person, either. I just studied the best I could at school and flirted with several men I met, something I'm sure you're not entirely unfamiliar with. I didn't hurt anyone besides the leader of an attempted ResiCorp rebellion a LONG time ago, blew him up with three mini-grenades launched out of my arm and into his face. I guess that violates 'thou shalt not kill', but I didn't care at the time. He tortured me for military secrets, he had it coming.
"As for how I died, I don't rightly know that either. I seem to remember a lot of falling, or flying... or something with a lot of wind.
"Does that answer your question?"

"Alot of people kill in self defense, that's not a violation. At least not in the Abyss, though we're looking into changing that. Falling. Good life otherwise. Did you fall or commit suicide? Commiting suicide is a violation that puts you in the abyss. I can't say that I agree with that but I don't make the rules."

Vera sat down at her computer station and began to type. Which was unusuall in that the keyboard appeared to be two round balls with small finger imprints. She typed by moving her wrists and pressing down on one of the finger pads.

To: Resi Corporation, Johnathan Tetragammaton
From: Vera Witdraw, Temporary Represenative of the Enclave of the Lords of War

Mr. Tetragammaton,
I have been informed by my employer that he wishes to prevent any futher blood shed of the employees of Resi Corp. As such he is prepared to assist you by loaning you some companies of armored anti-grav drones to help secure the city streets against these renegades. He has asked that I make an inquiry into this matter with your office on his behalf and clear up some minor details.



In the galley of the ship, the Priestess sat quietly before a small smoke filled chamber. Embers of some incense, spices, and a shavings of wood from the Trees of the Moon and Sun. Suspended in the rising smoke were two sets of metal grids on both sides of two thin glass plates that had smoke rising through small holes in the surface.

The Priestess turned and looked at a collection of small vials in a rack. Each contained liquid and a label in archaic greek. "Well then, maybe she's got a demon on her trail...." she mumbled outloud.

She picked up a vile that said Daimon. She pulled out a small pippet and placed a drop of the liquid on a small metal dish attached to the glass plate. A huge group of small lights appeared in the smoke below the plate, and one above the plate. The one above the plate was odd, not quite right...it was intermitant...as though only part of the signal was comming through.

Zacka studied the small light for a second and then turned. "I need some spit..."

"Use yours..."

"I need yours...untainted by magical abilities or major contact. "

"Oh, goody..." Vera walked over as Zackra held out a small glass rod for her.

"Stick this in your mouth and get some saliva on it..."

"Dthoth youth vath my blood?" Vera asked.

"I'm not using demon blood..." Ah, got you you fricken half-breed.

"Got something?"

"Yeah, I've got a half breed on this side of the boundry with a few demons circling on the other side. It's not perfect but it is the best lead we've got."

"So the Sara replicant may be with this...half breed?"

"Don't know...you did describe that inhuman-human thing...which this would feel like to someone with your past experiences."

"Need my help?"

"Deal with Resi Corp and their CEO...I will deal with the half-breed."

"May I suggest you take Timmy..."

"Yes, I will take Timmy. When there is an A.I. revolt you take a big, dumb flying hunk of dense grav ceramics with a big energy weapon."

A few moments later, as Vera waited for a reply. Zackra decended from the small ship. She once again had the black tube over her shoulder, but she looked like a compeltely diffrent woman. Black pants, boots, and a shirt with a gray coat. In her hands she held a wooden box in the form of a star. She kept her eyes on the small glass cicle built into the front.

Out of one end of the craft a white object dropped.

The Armored Drone had a long oval body of white ceramic with two odd gray sensor domes at the upper portion, and three blue 'eyes' in the center of the body. At the bottom of the white oval became a round ball. Near this was a gray port of some kind and above that a metal cylinder that poked about a foot out of the body.

Timmy did what his rather weak minded A.I. was designed to do. Follow its human 'master' as a sort of body guard / long range recon vehicle. It followed Zackra like a puppy as they left the airport. While Zackra followed her 'compass' towards Shandaril.and looked for suitable cross town transportation.

"Alot of people kill in self defense, that's not a violation. At least not in the Abyss, though we're looking into changing that. Falling. Good life otherwise. Did you fall or commit suicide? Commiting suicide is a violation that puts you in the abyss. I can't say that I agree with that but I don't make the rules."
"I wish I could tell you, but I just can't!" Sara shrugged, "Why does it matter, anyway?"

"Because there are those in the abyss who should stay there. Let's say I'm not on good terms with my neighbors there but some souls shouldn't be released into the world. If your one then I should destroy you. If your not then I should find out how it is you came to be here. Because if you can do or if someone pulled you from the abyss then I need to find a way to prevent them from doing it again. Either way, your the center."

Shandaril stood up and looked down at the badly torn cloth and simply ripped it off leaving herself nude. Not that the cloth had hid much.

"You're stuck with me either way. I just we were in Dragonsreach where I have sanctuary. Your not the only one the demons would be interesting in getting thier claws into."

To: Resi Corporation, Johnathan Tetragammaton
From: Vera Witdraw, Temporary Represenative of the Enclave of the Lords of War

Mr. Tetragammaton,
I have been informed by my employer that he wishes to prevent any futher blood shed of the employees of Resi Corp. As such he is prepared to assist you by loaning you some companies of armored anti-grav drones to help secure the city streets against these renegades. He has asked that I make an inquiry into this matter with your office on his behalf and clear up some minor details.
PING!
A blue light began to blink on Johnathan's desk, indicating he was receiving a telegram.
PING PING!
However, he was also on the phone.
PING!
"Angellica, could you get that?" he yelled out, covering the receiver with his free hand."
PING PING PING!
"ANGELLICA!"
PING PING PING PING PING PI-- click.
Letting out a sigh, he took his hand off the receiver, and spoke into the headset to the ((OOC: Strangely silent)) Tiburonian dignitary on the other end of the line. "Now," he began again, relaxing, "where were we?"
--------------
Angellica scanned the short-but-sweet message, expressed some mild surprise at its sender, but knew that it was probably something that Johnathan should see. Nevertheless, she figured the best chance of not angering him further would be to go ahead and act as the voice of the CEO and make an executive decision on the matter. With a swift flick of her wrists her holographic laptop activated, and she pecked at the translucent keys. After two minutes she ceased the typing, and clicked the send button, passing the following message back to Vena acrossed cyberspace.
TO: Vera Witdraw, Temporary Represenative of the Enclave of the Lords of War
FROM: The desk of Angellica Kradii, Secretary of the CEO

Long time no see, Miss Witdraw.
We can easily come to the conclusion that re-enforcements are in the best interest of the Resi Corporation. Please dispatch the troops directly to old Resi Tower, where we have determined the robots to be headed. We already have a massive task force stationed at the tower, and your drones would augment our army quite nicely. Why they are headed for the tower is anyone's guess, but it probably has something to do with Sara's past. Perhaps she's sending her entire army to reclaim the tower as a base of operations, we don't know. Her motives are anyone's guess. The tower, while no longer the capitol building of our nation, is still a major office and residential complex and must be preserved at all costs.
A side note, this message is sent from the NEW Resi Tower, our nation's current capitol building, constructed fifty years ago as a monument to a forgotten cause. Just to avoid understandable confusion, you should know that there are two Resi Towers.

Also, it would be nice to see the specs of these drones before they enter our nation. For public saftey reasons.
[signed]
Angellica Kradii, Secretary to the CEO
The Resi Corporation

"Because there are those in the abyss who should stay there. Let's say I'm not on good terms with my neighbors there but some souls shouldn't be released into the world. If your one then I should destroy you. If your not then I should find out how it is you came to be here. Because if you can do or if someone pulled you from the abyss then I need to find a way to prevent them from doing it again. Either way, your the center."

Shandaril stood up and looked down at the badly torn cloth and simply ripped it off leaving herself nude. Not that the cloth had hid much.

"You're stuck with me either way. I just we were in Dragonsreach where I have sanctuary. Your not the only one the demons would be interesting in getting thier claws into."
With a quick, almost imperceptable dart of the eyes, Sara glanced at Shandaril's nude body with vague interest, but decided there were bigger issues at hand than flirting.
"Great, stuck with a demon who's still debating whether or not to kill me," Sara muttered, "I wonder if they still have a copy of my Phoenix Circlet* lying around, that could act as pretty handy assassination insurance."

With a sigh she stood up and stretched her arms far above her head. She was still young in appearance and mentality, still only 20 and yet as experienced and cynical as someone twice her age. She had lived her entire life behind the scenes of the Resi Corporation, controlling the nation of Bandonia and regulating the tourism industry there all in her father's name. She knew all its inner workings, all its corruption that ultimately worked for it. Through this she had learned to trust no one from the corporation entirely, as evidenced throughout her life by her various flings with foreign men. All her friends were of other nations, and Shandaril was certainly no exception. However, she didn't quite know how to react when someone flat out told her there was a possibility they would kill her. Obviously a comment like that was made with full honesty, but it made her think nonetheless. She decided that, should worst come to worst, she could probably kill Shandaril or at least use robots to take her down. The best solution, though, was blatently to keep Shandaril in the dark about her death whatever it may have been. Even if she died pure, it would be best for Shandaril not to know. Currently she was extremely loyal, and Sara wished to keep it that way.

"Want some clothes?" Sara asked the succubus, feigning disinterest, "Or do you prefer going in the buff?"
As she waited for Shandaril's answer, she walked over to one wall that contained a set of televisions and switched one of them on. With a buzz and a crackle of static, CNN flashed on the screen informing all that would care to watch about the steady migration of robots to an as-of-yet uncertained point. Sara knew the robots' movement was easy to plot and was sure the higher ups had already found they were headed for old Resi Tower, but they wouldn't broadcast it on the news for fear that she'd hear it and change their course.
"After I give my second transmission to the robots," Sara said, still watching the television with mild interest, "Do you want to join me in the final assult? You'd be able to slaughter more of those robots that punched holes in you the last time, except this time you'd have an army at your back."

((OOC: PG-13! PG-13! :p
*Also, the Phoenix Circlet is this tiny little headband that acts as a dispenser of nanomachines, allowing Sara to change bodies on the fly, heal herself in seconds, or even grow robotic limbs if need be. She had one in her last life made exclusively for her, and what's happened to it now is anyone's guess.))

(OOC - Don't worry, I'm keeping it PG-13, otherwise Shan would have been hard core flirting already. I'm just assuming that she's still not sure how to react. She seriously hates demons, if she gets to know Sara well enough she'll tell her why. She's also more concerned about the demons than the robots, they tend to come for her when she's not in hell where she can be watched and where she has some allies or when she's not in dragonsreach where there are people who give her sanctuary. Now add Sara's escape. Not a good combo. She's powerful in mortal terms, though not invincible as has been seen. She's actaully rather weak in regards to pure demons, though she's learned some secrets and tricks through the centuries. She IS flirtatious though, I can't help that, it's the succubus in her. She just preoccupied right now and I'll keep it that way.)

Shan walked up to the screen and reached for one of the robots only to be stopped by the glass (or plastic or what have you). She then looked closer at it and tried looking through any cracks in the walls to find the tiny images.

"I work better without clothes. I would say ask anyone but unfortunatly none I'm intimate with survive. Although if you have something in dryder silk that would be great", she said eyeing Sara as she stretched.

She turned, looking at Sara. "I don't know what your trying to do and to be quite honest I don't care. I'll help you. If .... If you help me find out how you got out. Good or evil I'll leave you be, as long as we can find out how you got away. You have to understand, there ARE those who need to remain where they are. Souls you really wouldn't want in your lands. Some are ancient and powerful, others just deranged and powerful."

She turned back to her examination of the tiny things in the wall for a moment then turned back. "Speaking of souls, I don't suppose there's someone you dislike nearby enough for me to feed? Those golems and that demon hunter took alot out of me."

(OOC - Don't worry, I'm keeping it PG-13, otherwise Shan would have been hard core flirting already. I'm just assuming that she's still not sure how to react. She seriously hates demons, if she gets to know Sara well enough she'll tell her why. She's also more concerned about the demons than the robots, they tend to come for her when she's not in hell where she can be watched and where she has some allies or when she's not in dragonsreach where there are people who give her sanctuary. Now add Sara's escape. Not a good combo. She's powerful in mortal terms, though not invincible as has been seen. She's actaully rather weak in regards to pure demons, though she's learned some secrets and tricks through the centuries. She IS flirtatious though, I can't help that, it's the succubus in her. She just preoccupied right now and I'll keep it that way.)

Shan walked up to the screen and reached for one of the robots only to be stopped by the glass (or plastic or what have you). She then looked closer at it and tried looking through any cracks in the walls to find the tiny images.

"I work better without clothes. I would say ask anyone but unfortunatly none I'm intimate with survive. Although if you have something in dryder silk that would be great", she said eyeing Sara as she stretched.

She turned, looking at Sara. "I don't know what your trying to do and to be quite honest I don't care. I'll help you. If .... If you help me find out how you got out. Good or evil I'll leave you be, as long as we can find out how you got away. You have to understand, there ARE those who need to remain where they are. Souls you really wouldn't want in your lands. Some are ancient and powerful, others just deranged and powerful."

She turned back to her examination of the tiny things in the wall for a moment then turned back. "Speaking of souls, I don't suppose there's someone you dislike nearby enough for me to feed? Those golems and that demon hunter took alot out of me."
((OOC: Naw, I don't really care. However, just for both of our sakes I'd rather have your character only explore her "full nature" in an appropriately labeled thread. ;) ))
IC:

"All this lab's got are coats and sliksteel," Sara said, turning away from the televisions and rifling through a nearby coatrack, "if we had an indrustrial welding laser we could probably tailor this silksteel to your style, but I'm guessing they don't have one around here. It's a lab, after all, not a factory."
She held out a sliver bra that somehow found itself into the labcoat rack.
"The Resi Corporation: home of bulletproof undies. That's probably what they worked on here before that person converted this lab. ResiCorp's been working on combining fashion and defense for a long tim, making stuff like bulletproof leather jackets, impenitrable short-shorts, and that nice little number you see there. It's not too hard to manufacture, and the rich will pay millions for it. AH! Here's the bottom part to it!"
She tossed the silksteel lingerie to Shandaril, still rooting through the rack for something for herself. Her labcoat was starting to fray and come apart, which was frankly something she could not stand for.
"Let me worry about the demons," she muttered, slipping into a leather jacket she found on the rack before finding it too big and putting it back, "We've got enough ordinance to take down the supernatural. As for souls you might want to check out the storage room where we locked all the human security crew. I wasn't planning on feeding them, so it's probably best to eat one while their ripe. Leave at least one left, though, I need to interrogate someone."

She had assembled an outfit by now, a tight leather jacket with bulletproof jeans that seemed only a tad baggy on her. Sara even managed to find some bulletproof goggle glasses.
"Utillity before fashion," she said, indicating the glasses with her hand, "I was looking for a facemask, but these work too. Come to think of it, I might as well go with you and get the interrogation out of the way while I still have time. Not like I was doing anything now anyway."

And so, they proceeded to the storage room. The men locked inside began to beg and plead as they heard the footsteps of the two women approaching, assuming they were rescuers sent by the person who had taken up residence in this complex. As Sara wrenched the door open with her bare hands, they saw how dead wrong they are.
"Take your pick," she said, motioning for Shandaril to move in.

Shandaril had put on the underwear which did nothing but augment her already splendid appearance. She strode into the room with an unconscious sashy that caught the eyes of most men and many women in normal circumstances and was even pleasing in this enviroment. She walked slowly around them, letting them have plenty of time to run thier eyes over her before finally picking out two. Her charm was in full gear now and she picked out a man and woman. What happened happened next would make a fortune in the porn business if it could be transferred from the security tapes and the two thoroughly enjoyted themselvs. At least until the end when the souls she had been slowly savoring were finally completely removed. When she was done they were dead, the souls gone, no chance to return, but they lay with smiles on thier faces.

Shandaril headed back toward the door, her eyes glowing with a light red tint. She turned to the rest in the room. "Your all going to die, you chose the wrong side. But there are many ways to die", she said looking at the two that she had left. The meaning was clear. Die painfully under interrigation or die much more pleasantly under Shandarils more tender ministrations.

OOC: Ai, damn, sorry for not responding. Been busy.
OOC2: Were we supporting you? I thought I was sending troops to secure assets, like the embassy and such...

IC:

Back in Johnathan's study, he had switched on the nanofilter, activly replacing the cigarette smoke with clean air. He relaxed a bit, the ball was in his court now.
"Hello," he said to the intercom, reclining in his chair, "I'm CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton of the Resi Corporation. I understand you represent Tiburon, the nation that was kind enough to send us these mobile suits to help us quell this pesky rebellion. Let me start off by thanking you for your support, and noting that no favor to the Resi Corporation has ever gone unrewarded. Now, before your troops enter the city, there are a couple things I'd like to discuss. For starters, how large are these mobile suits and what are they armed with?"

Nova Starfighter, the President of Tiburon, bent back in his own chair, and then leaned forward in a long arc, as if to better hear the intercom- which was pointless, since he had put the volume up to a normal decibel level. In any case, this was not going well for the president. A Tiburonese strike force was on alert and currently moving towards the Tradewinds- but they'd declared their neutrality... yet CEO Tetragammaton thought they were there to support corporate troops. He couldn't say that now, though. Diplomacy was essential.

"Yes, um... for starters, Mr. Tetragammaton, I should advise you that Tiburonese troops aren't exactly on alert for assistance towards either side. Still, you wanted to know the specifications on the mobile suits. I can't give you details, although I will say that we are sending six RGM-79N2 GM IVs, which look similar to the 79N GM Customs but are on the level of the OZ-17MS Serpents. The force is being led by the RX-79GP03S Gundam Dendrobium Stamen. The Stamen's the tallest, reaching at about 59.71128 feet. Once again, I must remind you that these are here to secure Tiburonese assets in Resi, namely the people in the embassy. We're not here to cause any trouble."

Shandaril had put on the underwear which did nothing but augment her already splendid appearance. She strode into the room with an unconscious sashy that caught the eyes of most men and many women in normal circumstances and was even pleasing in this enviroment. She walked slowly around them, letting them have plenty of time to run thier eyes over her before finally picking out two. Her charm was in full gear now and she picked out a man and woman. What happened happened next would make a fortune in the porn business if it could be transferred from the security tapes and the two thoroughly enjoyted themselvs. At least until the end when the souls she had been slowly savoring were finally completely removed. When she was done they were dead, the souls gone, no chance to return, but they lay with smiles on thier faces.

Shandaril headed back toward the door, her eyes glowing with a light red tint. She turned to the rest in the room. "Your all going to die, you chose the wrong side. But there are many ways to die", she said looking at the two that she had left. The meaning was clear. Die painfully under interrigation or die much more pleasantly under Shandarils more tender ministrations.
Sara, not feeling up to seeing one of her friends boff two enemies before killing them, waited a ways away from the room. When she heard the door open again, she approached the room acting as though she had just come by to check on things.
"Not a bad way to go, up until the end," Sara said to Shandaril with a half-smile, "I suppose it's my turn now."
Sara walked inside casually and flicked on the lights. She closed the battered door as best she could, and assumed a sweet, almost motherly air despite the two soul-less bodies resting on the ground.
"I'm sorry your friends had to die," she started, "but my companion needed to feed, and I was rather it would be someone who was a threat to my leadership of this base than an innocent."
She picked a whimpering man by his collar and drug him to his feet. She held him above her head before setting him down. He was shaking, barely able to stand but doing so as a last-ditch effort to stay alive.
"You can sit if you like, I just wanted to see if you had any strength left in you," she said, smiling at the man.
Hearing these words, the man collapsed to the floor like a fleshy lump. Gasping and shaking, he looked up at his captor.
"W-why are you being so generous?" he stuttered out.
"I figure, because you put this body together, you know exactly what it's capible of. When I lifted you up I could've inflicted unparalelled pain on you with the tasers you built into my hands, you obviously knew that because of how you looked at them. You know about this body, about what brought me back, about who tried to kill me.
"Now, I'm prepared to make this interesting," she said, turning away from the two captives, "There's nothing you can do on the outside that would harm my operation. If you ran to ResiCorp officials, you'd have information tortured out of you regardless of whether you wanted to cooperate or not. Plus, it's not like even in the prime of health either of you could harm one of my minions, much less me.
"On the other hand," she spun around quickly to face them, an evil grin and eyes that seemed to glow replacing the friendly smile formerly on her face, "I have no reason to keep you alive either. There are two of you. That means that if one of you doesn't obey me, I can kill you and lose no information. But that would be a shameless waste of human life, don't you think?"
She looked down at them, silently. When no response was given, her smile turned into a scowl that could curdle milk.
"I said, DON'T YOU THINK?!" she bellowed at them.
"Ye... yes!" the other captive shot out.
"Good, good," Sara replied, her fury dying down and being replaced with her kinder mannerisms, "This should be simple then."

Shandaril watched with narrowed eyes. She didn't know how she got here. So be it. Hopefully these people would know. The sooner the better. The demons wouldn't be long in coming and Shan wanted her answers before they got here.

OOC: Ai, damn, sorry for not responding. Been busy.
OOC2: Were we supporting you? I thought I was sending troops to secure assets, like the embassy and such...((OOC: Well, you didn't really make that clear, so now we think you're supporting us. :p ))

Nova Starfighter, the President of Tiburon, bent back in his own chair, and then leaned forward in a long arc, as if to better hear the intercom- which was pointless, since he had put the volume up to a normal decibel level. In any case, this was not going well for the president. A Tiburonese strike force was on alert and currently moving towards the Tradewinds- but they'd declared their neutrality... yet CEO Tetragammaton thought they were there to support corporate troops. He couldn't say that now, though. Diplomacy was essential.

"Yes, um... for starters, Mr. Tetragammaton, I should advise you that Tiburonese troops aren't exactly on alert for assistance towards either side. Still, you wanted to know the specifications on the mobile suits. I can't give you details, although I will say that we are sending six RGM-79N2 GM IVs, which look similar to the 79N GM Customs but are on the level of the OZ-17MS Serpents. The force is being led by the RX-79GP03S Gundam Dendrobium Stamen. The Stamen's the tallest, reaching at about 59.71128 feet. Once again, I must remind you that these are here to secure Tiburonese assets in Resi, namely the people in the embassy. We're not here to cause any trouble."
Johnathan let a freshly lit cigarette fall from his hand.
"E-excuse me? Did you say these weren't for us?"
Picking up the cigarette and instantly snuffing it out, he re-assumed his professional nature in an instant, glossing over his surprise as if it never happened.
"Then I don't exactly know if we can let that high of ordinance through Resian airspace without a little agreement. A troop plane would be fine, sure, but full-fledged mobile suits? We need some insurance that you won't destroy our property, and especially not try to attack our government. I doubt the leaders of this revolution would take kindly from a third party's interferrance in their hostile takeover, and would most likely band with us against you should you try anything funny. But I'm sure you won't, we're both respectible men here. However, I will require you to pay for anything that may be considered collateral damage, as well as pay a small fee of $5,000 per mobile suit for passing through our land without a treaty. This is acceptable, yes?"

Amy was getting restless. The ride had been far too long. Of course, anything was better than staying back in the DMZs...
Dr. Ob was carrying out the most horrid experiments, she thought to herself. I can't believe she started on experimenting with humans...
That was why she left. What with all this "Enlightenment" stuff getting touted everywhere, and people rushing in to get their bodies modified in the strangest ways.
Of course, the neural uplinking we were getting so good at did look appealing, she mused. But of course, I couldn't be sure of what else they would stick in my head while they were at it. That's why I had to leave.
Amy had heard vague news of fighting or something going on in Resi, but anything was better than the DMZs now.

"We're drawing close to Resi City. Just a little under an hour now," announced the driver.
"Oh, finally! Staying cooped up in this car is killing me."
"Well, I drove as fast as I could. I really couldn't... Shit. Get down!"

Amy saw a flash of some sort of glinting metal at medium range from the car before she ducked. She couldn't see what it was, but she figured she'd take no chances. She drew the concealed railpistol she'd kept with her. I'm glad I brought this with me, she thought. I don't know about weapons laws in Resi City, but I'll deal with that once I get there.

The driver popped his head above the dashboard. He was quite lucky he ducked when he did, as a shot smashed through the window right after.

"I'm just going to shoot it," the driver whispered. "I'm sure I can take it. It's only a robot."
"Shouldn't I cover you or something?"
"Naah. No point."
"But..."
"No. Stay down."
Amy was angered by this. She'd do what she damn well liked.

The driver began to stand. Amy followed suit.
A shot ripped into the driver's chest.
A split second later, Amy's rounds hit the robot. Unfortunately, that split second had cost the driver his life.

"Shit. I can't drive this thing! Now I get to walk. Fucking driver, shouldn't have stood up all the way.
Ah well. It's a few hours walk from here. I'd better get started..."

Amy stewed as she walked.
"Fucking good-for-nothing driver..."

***
~two hours later~

A car was driving up from behind Amy at a rather reckless pace. Amy could hear the sound of a couple of drunk guys trying to sing along to some sort of music or other.

The car pulled up alongside Amy and slowed.
"Hey there, sexy. Want a ride?"
"Fuck no."
"C'mon, I know you wanna have some fun!"
"Not particularly." Amy took out her railpistol and aimed in a single fluid movement. "Oh yeah, I forgot! If you so much as try to lay a finger on me, you die. If I had it my way, it would be long and painful, but I'm busy right now."

By now the car had drawn to a stop.
"Aww, little girl think she can talk tough? How funny!" the driver commented with alcohol-slurred speech. He started to open the door.

"I really don't think you want to do that," Amy stated, gesturing with her gun.
"I reckon I do, little lady." The drunk started to get out of the car.

"Why must you waste my ammo?" Amy muttered to herself. She loosed two quick bursts into the drunk's forehead. "Hee, what a nice shot I made! Yes!" Amy exclaimed. The bullets had travelled through the fdrunk and into one of his buddies. "Two down, one to go."

"Okay, you are going to get out of the car, and lay down face-first. Keep your hands where I can see them, and stay still," Amy commanded the last man. "Do you have anything like a rope in your car?"
The man didn't respond.

Amy walked over and kicked him. "I asked you if you had any rope!"
"Y-y-yes, ma'am! In the green toolbox in the trunk!"
"Much better."

Amy grabbed the rope, and walked back to the man. "Now, don't struggle." Amy tied him up properly and left him. No need to bother wasting ammo on him, she was sure a robot or something would come by and kill him later.

"Finally, something I can drive!" Amy climbed into the drivers seat of the car. "Time to complete my trip to Resi City..."

[OOC: Wow, I've had this RP puppet for a while and hadn't gotten around to using it until now. Here's hoping this was a good test-drive...
*clasps hands and prays silently that she didn't come over as a total n00b at RPing*
Oh, and TRC, you wouldn't happen to have a factbook for your country or something of the sort floating around somewhere, would you? I think I need to know a bit more about the area before I continue, lest I make some horrible idiotic blunder or something like that, and I really don't want to come over as a moron. If you don't have a factbook, perhaps you could point me to some past RPs of your so I can get a feel for your country?
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
^.^]

Shandaril watched with narrowed eyes. She didn't know how she got here. So be it. Hopefully these people would know. The sooner the better. The demons wouldn't be long in coming and Shan wanted her answers before they got here.
Sara emerged from the room. She pushed the heavy metal door straight forward, dropping it with a bang that resounded throughout the hall. She stared straight ahead, gritting her teeth and strongly regretting deciding to interrogate the poor bastards. Behind her, one body lay with its head cleanly vaporized by an energy beam so powerful the fleshy stump of a neck it had left was fused into a nub, making it look as if the corpse never had a head to begin with, and leaving the room devoid of blood. Three bloodless deaths in the same room, what're the odds?
The sole survivor burst past her, screaming. She paid him no heed, watching him flee down the halls in a blind panic with almost a dispassionate gaze. Contrary to what she had told them earlier, the now-dead corpse belonged to the one who decided to speak. Clearly the news she extracted from the captive in his final hours on earth met with something less than satisfaction from Sara. She reflected on his words with a tinge of regret. Regret for asking, regret for killing the bastard in a fit of rage. But regret was water under the bridge for her right now. The news had forced emotion out of her body almost completely, something she hadn't done except in the final instants before her death before being overcome by it. Obviously she wasn't very good at surpressing emotion. Switching between facets of herself like the good cop/bad cop she pulled while inside the room was easy to do. It came with the territory of switching appearances and disguises like she did with the phoenix circlet, back in the day. Draining herself of emotion, however, was a feat usually beyond her. Still, she managed it with perfect ease as if guided by a divine hand.

Sara strode out of the open door with purpose, looking straight ahead and walking past Shandaril ignorantly, mesmurized by her inner workings. Shandaril's presense registered in her head a split second later, and she spun around with the same cold purpose that she set out from the room with in the first place.
"Shandaril, I need you to go to new Resi Tower and wait near it for the robots to arrive. They will shift from their crosstown target of old Resi Tower to the new Tower in just enough time to catch the monitoring A.I. off-track and form a seige. When the seige starts, I want you to wait a while and observe the robots fighting. Judge their skills, then hand-pick a team of the best fighters before enemy backup arrives and infultrate the Tower. The CEO's office is on the top floor. Kill him, drain his soul, whatever. Keep the secretary alive, she will be useful."
Pre-empting Shandaril's inquisition, Sara spoke. "I learned all I needed to know in there, and more. They extracted a copy of my brain from the phoenix circlet I used to wear and inserted it into a robotic replica of my body. I'm not the real Sara, just a hunk of metal and wires powered by batteries. Once I retrieve that circlet, though, I can have my real body back at least. As for what I will be doing while the seige is underway, I'll be fighting another force on another front, but I'll be doing that one alone."
She turned sharply and began to leave, walking with the same purpose and determination.

Amy was getting restless. The ride had been far too long. Of course, anything was better than staying back in the DMZs...
Dr. Ob was carrying out the most horrid experiments, she thought to herself. I can't believe he started on experimenting with humans...
That was why she left. What with all this "Enlightenment" stuff getting touted everywhere, and people rushing in to get their bodies modified in the strangest ways.
Of course, the neural uplinking we were getting so good at did look appealing, she mused. But of course, I couldn't be sure of what else they would stick in my head while they were at it. That's why I had to leave.
Amy had heard vague news of fighting or something going on in Resi, but anything was better than the DMZs now.

"We're drawing close to Resi City. Just a little under an hour now," announced the driver.
"Oh, finally! Staying cooped up in this car is killing me."
"Well, I drove as fast as I could. I really couldn't... Shit. Get down!"

Amy saw a flash of some sort of glinting metal at medium range from the car before she ducked. She couldn't see what it was, but she figured she'd take no chances. She drew the concealed railpistol she'd kept with her. I'm glad I brought this with me, she thought. I don't know about weapons laws in Resi City, but I'll deal with that once I get there.

The driver popped his head above the dashboard. He was quite lucky he ducked when he did, as a shot smashed through the window right after.

"I'm just going to shoot it," the driver whispered. "I'm sure I can take it. It's only a robot."
"Shouldn't I cover you or something?"
"Naah. No point."
"But..."
"No. Stay down."
Amy was angered by this. She'd do what she damn well liked.

The driver began to stand. Amy followed suit.
A shot ripped into the driver's chest.
A split second later, Amy's rounds hit the robot. Unfortunately, that split second had cost the driver his life.

"Shit. I can't drive this thing! Now I get to walk. Fucking driver, shouldn't have stood up all the way.
Ah well. It's a few hours walk from here. I'd better get started..."

Amy stewed as she walked.
"Fucking good-for-nothing driver..."

***
~two hours later~

A car was driving up from behind Amy at a rather reckless pace. Amy could hear the sound of a couple of drunk guys trying to sing along to some sort of music or other.

The car pulled up alongside Amy and slowed.
"Hey there, sexy. Want a ride?"
"Fuck no."
"C'mon, I know you wanna have some fun!"
"Not particularly." Amy took out her railpistol and aimed in a single fluid movement. "Oh yeah, I forgot! If you so much as try to lay a finger on me, you die. If I had it my way, it would be long and painful, but I'm busy right now."

By now the car had drawn to a stop.
"Aww, little girl think she can talk tough? How funny!" the driver commented with alcohol-slurred speech. He started to open the door.

"I really don't think you want to do that," Amy stated, gesturing with her gun.
"I reckon I do, little lady." The drunk started to get out of the car.

"Why must you waste my ammo?" Amy muttered to herself. She loosed two quick bursts into the drunk's forehead. "Hee, what a nice shot I made! Yes!" Amy exclaimed. The bullets had travelled through the fdrunk and into one of his buddies. "Two down, one to go."

"Okay, you are going to get out of the car, and lay down face-first. Keep your hands where I can see them, and stay still," Amy commanded the last man. "Do you have anything like a rope in your car?"
The man didn't respond.

Amy walked over and kicked him. "I asked you if you had any rope!"
"Y-y-yes, ma'am! In the green toolbox in the trunk!"
"Much better."

Amy grabbed the rope, and walked back to the man. "Now, don't struggle." Amy tied him up properly and left him. No need to bother wasting ammo on him, she was sure a robot or something would come by and kill him later.

"Finally, something I can drive!" Amy climbed into the drivers seat of the car. "Time to complete my trip to Resi City..."

[OOC: Wow, I've had this RP puppet for a while and hadn't gotten around to using it until now. Here's hoping this was a good test-drive...
*clasps hands and prays silently that she didn't come over as a total n00b at RPing*
Oh, and TRC, you wouldn't happen to have a factbook for your country or something of the sort floating around somewhere, would you? I think I need to know a bit more about the area before I continue, lest I make some horrible idiotic blunder or something like that, and I really don't want to come over as a moron. If you don't have a factbook, perhaps you could point me to some past RPs of your so I can get a feel for your country?
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
^.^]((OOC: Naw, you did an excellent job! My NSwiki entry (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Resi), although peppered with laziness, is a great place to look for info.))
IC:

Stealing the car from the joyriding drunks was easy. Far too easy. If there was one thing that could be considered a universal rule in the corporation, it was that nothing was ever as simple as it appeared for the common man. There was always the fine print, the red tape, the hidden clauses, and so forth. In Amy's case, the fine print came in the form of a hefty metalic robot falling directly from the sky.

With a tremendous noise that could best be described as a THOOM!, the robot dropped like a blue metal streak from the sky onto the asphault in front of Amy's newly-aquired automobile, denting the pavement and throwing the car up on its back wheels for a full two seconds before the front end flopped back down with an unhealthy crunch. The bound and gagged man on the road was sent flying, probably into a telephone pole or some other hard, unforgiving object judging by the loud moist thump that was heard several seconds after the car's touchdown. The robot was an R-5 Warbot (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/r5.htm), one of the few robots still under control by the ResiCorp main office. It was fully flight-capible, and this model was trained to operate for law enforcement purposes with very little regard for innocent bystanders. With a hiss its hands retracted into its arms, fingers splitting apart and folding themselves into the massive framework. In their place emerged two miniguns that pointed at the car threateningly. Amy had committed a crime and the Warbot intended to make sure she didn't live to commit another.

"YOU HAVE BEEN JUDGED BY A SUPERIOR AND FOUND GUILTY OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER - CRIME CODE 00001." the machine spat, "YOUR PUNISHMENT IS DEATH. THANK YOU FOR SPENDING SOME OR ALL OF YOUR LIFE IN THE RESI CORPORATION."
The miniguns began to whirr, warming up before they could fire.

"If you want to issue orders then issue them to your lackeys not to me", Shandaril said and vanished, materializing in front of the fleeing man and grabbing him by the throat, lifting him clear of the ground.

She had heard of this circlet but never paid much attention. There were many items of power in different worlds, it was impossible to keep track of all of them. That this woman was murderer is obvious, no wonder she had been in the abyss. But Shan had already made her promise. The woman could stay loose, someone would find her. She still didn't have her answers and she wanted those answers.

"How was this woman brought back and by whom?" she asked the hapless man in her grip.

((OOC: Well, you didn't really make that clear, so now we think you're supporting us. :p ))

OOC: Yeah, I suppose I should have... sorry. ^_^;

IC: "Then I don't exactly know if we can let that high of ordinance through Resian airspace without a little agreement. A troop plane would be fine, sure, but full-fledged mobile suits? We need some insurance that you won't destroy our property, and especially not try to attack our government. I doubt the leaders of this revolution would take kindly from a third party's interferrance in their hostile takeover, and would most likely band with us against you should you try anything funny. But I'm sure you won't, we're both respectible men here. However, I will require you to pay for anything that may be considered collateral damage, as well as pay a small fee of $5,000 per mobile suit for passing through our land without a treaty. This is acceptable, yes?"
Nova exhaled- a little sharply. He never liked working with nation-corporations- these countries would sell their own civilians if it was profitable.

"We will accept the $15,000 mobile suit charge. If we are fired on, however, we believe any ensuing damage is the sole responsibility of the party that attacked us. Now, you have my word that Tiburonese forces will not attack Resian forces- period. I'm not sure what exactly I could offer as collateral in the extremely rare event that a pilot gets touchy, but..."

OOC: Are we going to do anything with that guy I left stranded in Resi City?

((OOC: Naw, you did an excellent job! My NSwiki entry (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Resi), although peppered with laziness, is a great place to look for info.))
[OOC: Oh, right!
*facepalms*
I can't believe I forgot about the NSwiki. Okay, thanks for reminding me.
*note to self- make NSwiki entry*]

IC:
Stealing the car from the joyriding drunks was easy. Far too easy. If there was one thing that could be considered a universal rule in the corporation, it was that nothing was ever as simple as it appeared for the common man. There was always the fine print, the red tape, the hidden clauses, and so forth. In Amy's case, the fine print came in the form of a hefty metalic robot falling directly from the sky.

With a tremendous noise that could best be described as a THOOM!, the robot dropped like a blue metal streak from the sky onto the asphault in front of Amy's newly-aquired automobile, denting the pavement and throwing the car up on its back wheels for a full two seconds before the front end flopped back down with an unhealthy crunch. The bound and gagged man on the road was sent flying, probably into a telephone pole or some other hard, unforgiving object judging by the loud moist thump that was heard several seconds after the car's touchdown. The robot was an R-5 Warbot (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/r5.htm), one of the few robots still under control by the ResiCorp main office. It was fully flight-capible, and this model was trained to operate for law enforcement purposes with very little regard for innocent bystanders. With a hiss its hands retracted into its arms, fingers splitting apart and folding themselves into the massive framework. In their place emerged two miniguns that pointed at the car threateningly. Amy had committed a crime and the Warbot intended to make sure she didn't live to commit another.

"YOU HAVE BEEN JUDGED BY A SUPERIOR AND FOUND GUILTY OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER - CRIME CODE 00001." the machine spat, "YOUR PUNISHMENT IS DEATH. THANK YOU FOR SPENDING SOME OR ALL OF YOUR LIFE IN THE RESI CORPORATION."
The miniguns began to whirr, warming up before they could fire.
IC:
"W-what? Is there anything I can do? Do I get a hearing? Anything??"
Amy stood in fear as she waited for the stream of bullets that would be her death.

"If you want to issue orders then issue them to your lackeys not to me", Shandaril said and vanished, materializing in front of the fleeing man and grabbing him by the throat, lifting him clear of the ground.

She had heard of this circlet but never paid much attention. There were many items of power in different worlds, it was impossible to keep track of all of them. That this woman was murderer is obvious, no wonder she had been in the abyss. But Shan had already made her promise. The woman could stay loose, someone would find her. She still didn't have her answers and she wanted those answers.

"How was this woman brought back and by whom?" she asked the hapless man in her grip.
"I have no idea!" the man rasped as he was being throttled, "We just made a robotic replica of her body! We were nowhere near the stage where we were to transfer her mind data to the new body! But Professor Washu made the body... please let me go!"
"Look, Shan," Sara sighed, "Unless you really need food, let him go. It's hard to digest all of this, all of what I've heard, on top of the revolution I'm trying to stage. If you want to help, if you want to secure yourself a place at the top of the new corporate order, then you have to prove yourself trustworthy and do this one thing for me while I take care of this Professor Washu that the drone you are currently throttling mentioned. I need someone strong and non-metallic to lead the assult on new Resi Tower, and you're the only one who fits that description in my employ. Anyway, if you aren't there by the time I make my final broadcast, the robots will probably figure it out on their own. If not, they'll just slaughter all the higher-ups in the tower which works just as well. If you don't want to have a future on the surface where you'd actually fit in, you could always return to the pit. The choice is yours."

And with that, Sara turned and continued to walk away.

Nova exhaled- a little sharply. He never liked working with nation-corporations- these countries would sell their own civilians if it was profitable.

"We will accept the $15,000 mobile suit charge. If we are fired on, however, we believe any ensuing damage is the sole responsibility of the party that attacked us. Now, you have my word that Tiburonese forces will not attack Resian forces- period. I'm not sure what exactly I could offer as collateral in the extremely rare event that a pilot gets touchy, but..."

OOC: Are we going to do anything with that guy I left stranded in Resi City?
Johnathan knew the tone of Nova's voice, he'd heard it often when he was under CEO Dae Narasagi. It was the imfamous "I don't want to have to deal with you but I have to for political reasons" tone of voice. Every world leader, whether they knew it or not, had to use that voice sometime in their career. Johnathan only hoped he'd live long enough to be able to use it once himself.

"Your stance on receiving fire is logical, and I see no problem with it," he said suscintly, "However, if your forces develop a trigger finger, I believe the embassy itself would be considered proper collateral. With all the technological secrets inside it included, of course. But as you said, your forces won't be attacking us unprovoked, so this is merely an incentive to make sure that doesn't happen."

((OOC: I thought you were going to do something with him. I can't exactly do anything with him right now. :( ))

"W-what? Is there anything I can do? Do I get a hearing? Anything??"
Amy stood in fear as she waited for the stream of bullets that would be her death.
"HA HA, PUNY HU-MAN WITH YOUR PUNY HU-MAN COURT SYSTEMS! YOU'D BE SENTENCED TO DEATH ANYWAY, I'M JUST SPEEDING UP THE PROCESS WITH MY SUPERIOR ROBOT BRAIN AND SAVING THE COURT SYSTEM MONEY."
This cold metal voice was to be the last thing Amy heard in this world. Well, that is if you don't count the cold and precise PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG of the miniguns firing and tearing the car and its contents to shreads. Death in the corporation was as punctuated and harsh as life itself, even to foreigners.

Shandaril watched Sara depart and smiled. 'So you get Washu and my answers and tell me what you will', she thought. 'Death doesn't silence a witness where I come from.'

She looked at the man in her grasp. "You will take me to this tower. Fail or attempt to deceive and I'll take you to the abyss myself where you would wish something so pleasant as death could be within your grasp."

Shandaril watched Sara depart and smiled. 'So you get Washu and my answers and tell me what you will', she thought. 'Death doesn't silence a witness where I come from.'

She looked at the man in her grasp. "You will take me to this tower. Fail or attempt to deceive and I'll take you to the abyss myself where you would wish something so pleasant as death could be within your grasp."
"Y-yes ma'am!" the man sputtered, "I'll do anything you say, anything! But it'd be easier if I could breathe!"
--------------
Sara proceeded to the room where the former security guard informed her that her circlet lay. Her mind was dead set on finding it, and once she had it within her possession she could use the nanomachines within it to hack the base's system for any trace of Prof. Washu's whereabouts. She would get her real body back, and all of her godlike power that she had in the past life. Why she jumped from Resi Tower, she didn't really know. She had everything going for her, as she saw it, and had no real reason to end her life.
As she shrugged the feeling off, an annoying beeping caught her ear. She at first tried to ignore it, but the noise was so persistant that she couldn't drown it out. She immeadiately changed her path to find the object and destroy it, but instead found that the beeping was coming from a television screen a few feet off her initial path. She instinctivly pressed the power button below it, and the screen flickered to life. On it appeared a picture of an intensly bored youth, black with blonde dreadlocks. If they were real blonde, he'd have had to be the son of a billionaire. If they were bleached, he'd be part of one of the lower dregs of soceity, the "punks" who were outcasts and couldn't get jobs. She was guessing it was bleached, judging by his filthy attire.
His eyes glanced back towards the camera, and his face at once lit up. "Hey everyone!" he hollered away from the camera, "We've got contact! Crowd around!"
Instantly a group of teenagers and adults in their early 20's gathered around him, all staring intensly at Sara.
"This... is a very odd reality show..." Sara commented to herself, observing the youths with scrutiny.
"Naw, it's no show!" the black teenager who called everyone over answered back, "This is a direct link telecast! I'm James McClintok, of the Punk Movement, I want... WE want to tell you that we're on your side, and will cooperate with you if you take advice from us when you take over."
"Sure," said Sara, instantly recovering from the initial shock and lying through her teeth now with ease, "I'll listen to you."
"Great! Is there anything you'd have us do?"
"Diversions. I guess. I could do without you at this point, but it'll go a lot smoother if you get some molotovs and whatever hardware you've got together and choose some place far, far away from either Resi Tower to blow the living bejeezus out of. Make sure it's a business district, too. Someplace with few living quarters.
"By the way," Sara added, before walking away, "How'd you find out I was stationed here?"
"Camera hacks," James replied, his smile taking up his whole face, "You're one hell of a fighter."
"Right, thanks. I've got to go and get some hardware of my own. Kick some ass for me."
"Can do! Signing off."

The TV flickered off, and Sara, a bit disoriented, began to walk down her original course again.
There's one born every minute, she thought to herself, smirking.

Shandaril dropped the man. "Help me to this tower and I'll free you", she said and gestured for him to get up. She wondered what it was this Sara wanted, but that wasn't her concern at the moment.

Shandaril dropped the man. "Help me to this tower and I'll free you", she said and gestured for him to get up. She wondered what it was this Sara wanted, but that wasn't her concern at the moment.
The man dropped to his knees, gasping and attempting to squeeze his adam's apple back into a recognizable shape. "I'll... take you there," he weezed, "my car's in the garage next to the building, I'll drive."
And so, after he stumbled to his feet, he led Shandaril outside the complex past a series of robotic guards who, sensing Shandaril's custody of the prisoner, did nothing to stop either of them. The two passed even more robotic guards that had taken control of the structures in the area, more specifically anything a decent sniper could get a shot off of. This included the parking garage Shandaril and the captive entered.
"There it is, there's my car," the man said, pointing at a bright blue car parked acrossed three handicapped spaces on the ground floor of the garage, "She's a beaut, isn't she? An XG Delux (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/xg.htm), only one year old."
He walked over to the passanger side door. The car, sensing his presence, blinked its headlights and unlocked all the doors. The passanger door swung open for him, and he motioned for Shandaril to get in.
"Ladies first," he said with a smile.
-----------------------------

INPUT CORPORATE E-MAIL:
>sresi@resicorp.com
INPUT PASSWORD:
>***************
EXECUTIVE CLASS 1 ACESS GRANTED! WELCOME {SARA RESI}!
Piece of cake, Sara thought, inspecting her synthetic nails as the computer processed the extend of her acess privilages. The computer screen flickered a couple of times before desplaying a final menu.
GREETINGS {SARA RESI}!
FROM THIS TERMINAL YOU CAN:
> OPEN THE AJACENT DOOR
> ACESS LOCAL RESINET
> INITIATE RESI ON-LINE LINKUP (R.O.L.L.)
> LOG OFF
THE SCREEN IS TOUCH SENSITIVE, MAKE YOUR CHOICE NOW.
Scanning her eyes over the last two choices, she pondered her father and grandfather's ineptitude at naming things. Whether it stimmed from lack of creativity, laziness, or simply having too much on their plate at any given time, every other name in the Resi Corporation had the word "Resi" in it. Most citizens, like Sara Resi, only came to terms with this phenomina once in a great while, as the word "Resi" was glossed over by the mind after a while. Everything was Resi, either literally or figurativly. Immeadiately forgetting about her revelation, Sara poked the first choice. For ultimate power, she'd gladly put up with any ammount of lame names her anciestors could throw at her.
The door next to the panel hissed, releasing pressure. It was a hefty contraption, a full yard thick, obviously bomb proof. As if anyone but her would know how to use the device inside, but she supposed there was always reverse engineering. With a deafening series of banging clanks, a large gear imbedded within the door turned and rolled the door inside of the wall behind the computer monitor, revealing the room behind it. The room was seemingly made out of a single sheet of unweilded metal, polished to a shine so perfect that it reflected the image of Sara off into infinity. In the middle of this room, sitting under a Carbon-60 dome on top of a pedistal probably made of the same was her prize. Something she hadn't seen for a full century.

Her circlet lay within the transparent substance, calling to her.

She paused for a second and took in its awesome beauty, before rushing over to it with all possible speed, knocking the dome off the top of it, and placing it on her head.

At last, she thought, at last I am completely invincible, once again.

Johnathan knew the tone of Nova's voice, he'd heard it often when he was under CEO Dae Narasagi. It was the imfamous "I don't want to have to deal with you but I have to for political reasons" tone of voice. Every world leader, whether they knew it or not, had to use that voice sometime in their career. Johnathan only hoped he'd live long enough to be able to use it once himself.

"Your stance on receiving fire is logical, and I see no problem with it," he said suscintly, "However, if your forces develop a trigger finger, I believe the embassy itself would be considered proper collateral. With all the technological secrets inside it included, of course. But as you said, your forces won't be attacking us unprovoked, so this is merely an incentive to make sure that doesn't happen."

((OOC: I thought you were going to do something with him. I can't exactly do anything with him right now. :( ))

OOC: 'Kay. I'll wait for it until the time is right. Of course, we could just have him stand there for the entire time...

IC: Nova heard the immediate shift in Johnathan's pitch. He knew exactly what that meant. Shit. He had just broken one of the fundamental rules of diplomacy- only let the other person see your stated intentions. Nuclear physics was easy. This is hard!

He replied with a more natural tone, "That's perfectly understandable... since we've paid for the costs of building it ourselves, I suppose that could be considered collateral."

Shandaril shoved the man in and then pushing him got in herself. "Let us be off. I suppose this is one of those horseless carriages."

OOC: 'Kay. I'll wait for it until the time is right. Of course, we could just have him stand there for the entire time...

IC: Nova heard the immediate shift in Johnathan's pitch. He knew exactly what that meant. Shit. He had just broken one of the fundamental rules of diplomacy- only let the other person see your stated intentions. Nuclear physics was easy. This is hard!

He replied with a more natural tone, "That's perfectly understandable... since we've paid for the costs of building it ourselves, I suppose that could be considered collateral."
((OOC: Ack! I didn't say what I wanted to say right. Let me try again.
You didn't put your character in a very good position for me to create a character to interact with him. I assumed what you did was just a lead-in, to be followed up with the actual RP "meat".))
IC:
"I'm glad we've reached an understanding about our respective circumstances," Johnathan said with a smirk, "Now if you don't mind, we'll be ignoring your troops as they pass over our territory unless they make any regretable manuvers. As I'm sure you know, I've got a revolution to squeltch, so if you'll pardon me I must be getting back to business. Good day."
With that, he closed the intercom. He wondered for a few minutes if there'd be any time between the end of the revolution and the withdrawl of Tiburonian (?) forces in which to provoke them to attack Resian soil. He could use some technology to incorporate into a new Raven Unit design.

Shandaril shoved the man in and then pushing him got in herself. "Let us be off. I suppose this is one of those horseless carriages."
"Er, yes," he said, a little confused, "This would be. Now close the door and hang on, this thing goes fast."
Dropping his foot on the accellerator, the car leaped forward out of the garage and squeeled as its tires struck the street outside. It sped through vacant streets, past marching robots and through narrow alleyways. When at last they arrived within eyesight of the new tower, the ex-guard skid his car to a stop.
"This is where you get off," he said, reaching down to his hip to deactivate the door lock. In a flash his hand was up in Shandaril's face, holding a semiautomatic guass pistol not entirely dissimilar to the model Amy used on the drunken college boys. It was ready to fire a high velocity supersonic bullet through Shandaril's skull.
"Don't move, babe," the ex-guard growled at her, "It's a shame to kill a chick like you, but after what you did to Lance, Rich, and Rachel, I can never forgive you. Are you ready to die?"

Shandaril smiled at the man. Right before her arms snapped up and broke his arm at the elbow. Then she reached up and snapped his neck.

"No", she said, "not quite yet I'm afraid", she replied to his question. "But I really must get one of these horseless carriages. You know. You won't be needing yours anymore."

She opened his door and pushed him out, sliding over into the seat. As an afterthought she reached out and picked up the rifle, placing it in the passenger seat and then closed the door, examining the dashboard and floor of the vehicle, running through her mind what the man had done to operate this thing.

[OOC: Ack! I thought I already posted this!
Sorry for disappearing for a bit there.]

IC:
Dr. Ob walked briskly down the hallway. This was looking promising. Possibly a chance to expand on their techniques, finally! Of course, this was all permitting that the doctor's expectations were as close to the truth as current data seemed to indicate.

The Dr. turned the corner, into a room of computer terminals. She picked the nearest seat, sat, and began to compose a transmission.

TO: Johnathon Tetragammaton, CEO-Resicorp

You are the one in control of The Resi Corporation, corect?
A citizen of our country had crossed the border to yours. We do not know whether she made an attempt to immigrate to ResiCorp legally or illegally. She would have been traveling under the name of Amy, with any number of false surnames concocted. I know we haven't given you much to go on...

Perhaps she has commited a more serious crime? We sincerely hope not, but it is the sort of thing it would be in her nature to do. I do hope your law enforcement has stopped any serious damages...

She finalized the message, sent it, and sat back to wait. She had as much time as was needed.

Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi Resi!!!!!!!11!!!!!!
Tag :p

Dr. Ob walked briskly down the hallway. This was looking promising. Possibly a chance to expand on their techniques, finally! Of course, this was all permitting that the doctor's expectations were as close to the truth as current data seemed to indicate.

The Dr. turned the corner, into a room of computer terminals. She picked the nearest seat, sat, and began to compose a transmission.
TO: Johnathon Tetragammaton, CEO-Resicorp

You are the one in control of The Resi Corporation, corect?
A citizen of our country had crossed the border to yours. We do not know whether she made an attempt to immigrate to ResiCorp legally or illegally. She would have been traveling under the name of Amy, with any number of false surnames concocted. I know we haven't given you much to go on...

Perhaps she has commited a more serious crime? We sincerely hope not, but it is the sort of thing it would be in her nature to do. I do hope your law enforcement has stopped any serious damages...
She finalized the message, sent it, and sat back to wait. She had as much time as was needed.
((OOC: Let's say you included a picture of her, because it's only logical to do so and it would make life SO much easier seeing as the robot didn't actually get her name.))
IC:

Adrain Onitoth was a happy man. Recently promoted to a position as the Vice President of Public Relations (VPPR) by CEO Tetragammaton himself, he had the whole world ahead of him. He knew this, and always looked toward the future with a grin on his face. His office, which he decorated himself, was modern even by ResiCorp standards. The room sensed his unique body heat signature, posture, and several vital functions as he opened its door to determine if it was him, and would only unlock the door if it all matched up or he pressed a button on the inside of the room to unlock it. The floor of the room rotated, placing his desk directly in front of him as he entered, and rotating it to the back of the room as he sat down. If the fancy struck him, he could even extend the floor of his room straight out the bay window in his office, taking his desk along with it and giving him an excellent view of the city through a fine, almost invisible anti-wind nanomesh.
It was in this position he sat when he received the news of Amy. He looked over the message several times; it had been the first message of any importance he had received sense taking office. Most of the missives he received from other nations were pertaining to the operation of robots sold by the corporation, particularly questions that were covered within the first five pages of the instruction manual ("Your robot isn't responding? Is it on? No? Just flip that little switch in the back. Thanks for using ResiCorp."), so he mentally devoured the note with excitement. It would only be a minor debacle, he was sure of it, even if the girl was dead. It'd get a spot on CNN, talking briefly about the incident, and that'd be the jist of it.
He ran the attached photo through his computer, and the police server scanned several billion photos of various ResiCorp citizens and criminals. Her record with Seraphim Industries was the first to pop up, labeled "Classified!" to bar his entrance while stil proving she had a record, but the next bit that popped up was a new entry, just posted earlier that day. "JANE DOE - OBSERVED BY R-5 UNIT #5691732 AND TERMINATED FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDER." the computer flashed at him, and he clicked the link. Pictures from the robot's viewfinder along with videos met his sight. He saw her fire a bullet into the brain of a drunken frat boy, and then the robot moved into action. The camera, for good taste's sake, cut off right after the robot read her the sentence and before it executed her. There were, however, pictures of her few and scattered reminants after death that the robot observed at the scene. He'd have to be sure to keep these the hell away from the Seraphim Industries executives, much less the media, or the small news spot could turn into a shitstorm from above. There was a closeup of her face with some blood on the pavement underneath it - he could send that. There was no need to tell the recipients the head was actually disembodied, they didn't need to know.

Selecting a good crop of pictures and the video, he zipped the lot of them and attached them to an e-mail, which he then composed.
Seraphim Industries:

Amy has ceased criminal activity in our nation, and was easily neutralized by one of our R-5 robot police. Attached are photos and a video, several pre-mortem and one post-mortem. As you will see in the video, she shot a Resian citizen apparently unprovoked. We appologise for said video's sound quality, most of it was taken from quite a distance in the air.

The robot who observed her found in its programming that her actions constituted a clear case of first degree murder, and administered neutralization immeadiately. For purposes of decency, we have not actually included any footage of the process, but we can assure that she is indeed removed from the picture.

We also appologise if you planned to extradite her and try her in your own nation. However, she killed a Resian, so our robot merely followed international law.

We hope this isn't too much of an inconvenience to you.
[signed]
Adrian Onitoth, VP of Public Relations
The Resi Corporation

With satisfaction, Adrian hit the send button. As if to punctuate this, a bird outside flew directly into the invisible nanomesh and crashed, with a loud thump, before plummiting to the ground outside. Adrian smiled, a bit sadisticly, and thought of how those with freedom often got too cocky for their own good.

Shandaril smiled at the man. Right before her arms snapped up and broke his arm at the elbow. Then she reached up and snapped his neck.

"No", she said, "not quite yet I'm afraid", she replied to his question. "But I really must get one of these horseless carriages. You know. You won't be needing yours anymore."

She opened his door and pushed him out, sliding over into the seat. As an afterthought she reached out and picked up the rifle, placing it in the passenger seat and then closed the door, examining the dashboard and floor of the vehicle, running through her mind what the man had done to operate this thing.
The man's carcass slid out and onto the pavement, slumping over and bleeding a bit out of his mouth. The car, noticing a keycard the man was carrying being displaced from its interior, refused to activate until the keycard found its way back inside the car. It wouldn't start, its headlights wouldn't turn on, it lay completely motionless, refusing to respond to its new master.
((OOC: Now I'm RPing a car? Good greif. :p ))

Shandaril sighed and got out. "Stupid thing." She dragged the car over the mans body and looked toward the resi building. Moving nonchalantly she looked for an alley in which she could watch the building while still being largely hidden. She periodically scanned the skys remembering the flying golems.

((OOC: Ack! I didn't say what I wanted to say right. Let me try again.
You didn't put your character in a very good position for me to create a character to interact with him. I assumed what you did was just a lead-in, to be followed up with the actual RP "meat".))

OOC: Um. Well, I was going to, but I never actually had any time. Speaking of which, I still don't.

IC:
"I'm glad we've reached an understanding about our respective circumstances," Johnathan said with a smirk, "Now if you don't mind, we'll be ignoring your troops as they pass over our territory unless they make any regretable manuvers. As I'm sure you know, I've got a revolution to squeltch, so if you'll pardon me I must be getting back to business. Good day."
With that, he closed the intercom. He wondered for a few minutes if there'd be any time between the end of the revolution and the withdrawl of Tiburonian (?) forces in which to provoke them to attack Resian soil. He could use some technology to incorporate into a new Raven Unit design.

OOC2: Tiburonese.
OOC3: Short post, sorry.
IC:

Nova settled the glass of water uneasily on the desk. He had, of course, informed the CEO of ResiCorp that the RGMs were coming to secure the embassy.

What he had not told the CEO was that one of the RGMs wasn't an RGM at all. It was actually a prototype special combat mobile suit developed by Anaheim Electronics- the urban combat RX-104FF (http://gundam.anime.net/images/mecha/RX-104FF.BR.GIF). Cloaked in a box to be transported with the regular mobile suits, the RX-104FF was to set things right if anything got dangerously out of hand- and hopefully, they wouldn't.

((OOC: About two hours takes place between this post and the last one with Sara in it.))
IC:

"So, do you think you can actually get my circlet to function?"
"Sure, but I'm still doubtful that you're the real Sara. Regardless, once I unlock its harddrive and mindlink, you will be in both form and mind."
"That's what I thought. Thanks Washu."

Sara had apprehended the "mad scientist" behind her re-creation after an hour of tracking her and a breif scuffle, they both realized they were on the same side from long, long ago. Sara's archenemy turned out to be none other than Professor H.J. Washu, Head of R&D under Jai Resi, and Sara's personal mentor. Washu, in fact, planned this revolution while CEO Dae Narasagi, the Collectivist that served before CEO Tetragammaton, was in power, disappearing from the public scene and keeping herself alive in a cybernetic body with regular nanorefreshings. Sara's current robotic body was the culmination of decades of development, because for some reason most of Sara's genetic code records were deleted immeadiately after her death, and her residual mind data stored in the circlet encrypted itself. Washu guessed that, in addition to committing suicide, Sara had attempted to remove all digital traces of herself for the exact reason of not being brought back to life.

But Washu was a woman of science. Practicality came first, emotions second.

Having Sara back was very practical to Washu, as it turned out, even for the intense cost. A future under Sara was a stable one, and Sara's reign would be forever as far as lifespan was concerned. There would be no leaders with a master plan to turn the corporation to communism, there would be no genocidal maniacs. There would only be Sara, enough human to remain functional in a corporation catering to humans, and enough machine to keep herself from becoming inebriated with power.

"Shandi should be in position now..." Sara muttered to herself, "I should broadcast the new co-ordinants to the robots' internal systems. Mind if I connect to your mecha's emergency broadcast beacon, Washu?"
Washu, her mind still trying to figure out exactly how the real Sara made it back into this robotic doll of her body, merely grunted in approval as she stared off into space.
"Right then, give me a second."
Sara crept into the cockpit of Washu's trademark Protek CUSTOM Raven Unit and fiddled around with the frequency settings of the beacon before plugging a wire from the communications relay into her arm, and initiating another transmission. This one was much less impressive than the last, a point that didn't matter considering it was only the metalic mass of robots that picked up on this perticular mindcast. In fact, the transmission only consisted of three words:

"Phi Delta Omega"

It was done. Sara sighed as she unplugged herself. Robots all over the corporation shifted their focus from old Resi Tower and immeadiately began the seige of New Resi Tower, attacking it with a barage of plasma weaponry and overcoming its puny defence force. Shandi would be there, Sara thought, the plan will go off without a hitch.

Shandaril watched the assault, observing the golems. She wasn't impressed with any of them. 'All force, no emagination', she thought, 'but then they are golems.' She picked out a half a dozen that seemed a bit more nimble than the rest. She was a half demon in a world of demons and NOT getting hit played a major role in her survival, aside the prime requisite of cunning of course. She strode forward in her bra and panties, a rather odd sight in the midst of a major armored conflict, leaving one to try to guess if she was insane or just to damn good to mess with. As she approached the robots she suddenly thought, 'How am I supposed to get them to follow me? I hope Sara will make them recognize me.'

She approached and pointed to the ones in question saying 'you' to each one in turn, "Follow me." She turned and began scaling the wall, her fingers digging into the side of it. 'No point in a frontal assault', she thought. She didn't bother to see if the robots followed, if the did, they did, if not, then she would handle this herself.

"It's over, you know."
Johnathan muttered these words with his head burried in his arms, and the sound that emerged was nothing but a muffled grunt.
"Excuse me?" Angellica said, Johnathan's speach wrenching her out of deep thought. Johnathan lifted his head up to look her in the eyes. His own were red and weary. He hadn't slept a wink sense Sara's first transmission, and he couldn't bring himself to look out the windows of his office at the robotic hordes below. He had seen the robotic fighting broadcast in CNN, and that was more than enough for his tastes. He'd rather leave reality nice and seperate from what he had seen on TV, there was no need to further associate the two.
"All we have inside the tower are gun turrets and human security," he mumbled, "We had older-model robots but they all left for old Resi Tower a while back. The R-5's just wouldn't work in an environment like this. It's over."
Angellica studied him, then turned away. "Hmmm..." she replied, eyeing a fake office plant closely, "mmmm..."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Johnathan snapped, his dispair turning to pointless rage, "Have you given up hope?"
"You have," Angellica breathed, apparently watching the plant for any sign of movement, "I don't see why I can't. I just chose not to voice my pessimism."
With a sigh and a wave of his hand Johnathan dismissed whatever he was so angry about. "I might as well lock down the whole damn tower now. It won't stop the robots much, but it'll give me a few extra minutes of life on this Earth."
"I wouldn't bother," Angellica replied, turning back to face him, "I already did it."
"Thattagirl..." said Johnathan, breathing a sigh of relief, "If we work together, there's a good chance we can survive this."

What he didn't know was that Angellica never locked down the tower. For one of the few times in her life, she had lied to him.

* * *

Minigun turrets within Resi Tower opened out of the ceilings and floors, their targets being any heat signature not found in the ResiCorp employee database, including all robots and, of course, Shandaril.

Bullets ripped out of the walls of the tower as the miniguns fired down at the robots below, leaving the tower with a questionable structural integrity as bricks, steel, mortar, masonry, and plastics flew into the streets. The miniguns had little effect on the horde due to their overall lack of proximity and being VERY inacurate at long range. However, when several targeted Shandaril's body climbing up the wall and began to open up firing, they were indeed very close.

In an instant one of the v4.0 R-Bots flying behind her knocked her clean out of the way, while two of its accomplaces dispatched of the turrets quite quickly.

"WHAT DOES MADAM WISH US TO DO?" the robot holding Shandaril asked her.

"Madam, I like that. I need to find this man inside, it's leader. Can you get me in close to his location?" she asked as she scanned the tower. The windows were large, bad design by her ideals where arrow slits and crenellations atop were normal, but then again, few but the mage's towers or the old castles reached this high. She looke down, 'correction' she thought, 'not even they were this tall.' She wondered how this thing even stood but put the thought aside and looked up at the robot.

"I didn't know golem's could fly", she said to it, "just what magics are used in your creations anyway?"

"Madam, I like that. I need to find this man inside, it's leader. Can you get me in close to his location?" she asked as she scanned the tower. The windows were large, bad design by her ideals where arrow slits and crenellations atop were normal, but then again, few but the mage's towers or the old castles reached this high. She looke down, 'correction' she thought, 'not even they were this tall.' She wondered how this thing even stood but put the thought aside and looked up at the robot.

"I didn't know golem's could fly", she said to it, "just what magics are used in your creations anyway?"
"PLASMA BATTERY, MICRO SCRAMJET, HOVERDYNES..." the robot replied, instinctivly knowing what she ment by "magics" through a small batch of code used to deal with primitive peoples, "THE BEST 'MAGICS' THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER. AS FOR YOUR PREVIOUS QUERY, I WILL TAKE YOU TO CEO TETRAGAMMATON."
With a jolt and a woosh, the robot sped upward towards the top of the tower. Countless miniguns locked on to and fired at the robotic troop and Shandaril as they sped upwards, and countless miniguns were destroyed by the troop's plasma cannons.

* * *

"You were right, Johnathan, we can't beat this."
"What?" Johnathan twitched slightly, his body filled with so much false hope. This felt like a reversal of roles from just a few seconds ago. "Why?" he continued, "We can beat this, we have the better technology."
Ignoring his statement, Angellica looked away and instead turned to the tinted glass window overlooking the battle. With the touch of a button on the wall, the window made an electric snapping noise and the battle below became visible through the window.
"Angellica..." Johnathan groaned, "don't do this to me, I don't want to watch my empire crumble."
"We need to face the truth," Angellica said, "We can't beat this and now is the time to cut a deal with this faux-Resi. Come to the window, John."
"But I thought you didn't want to voice your pessimism!"
"I didn't a few minutes ago, but watch the battle John. It's only practical now. She's obviously beating us. Please, come to the window. For me."
Johnathan sighed and pushed his chair away from his desk, swiveled it to face the window, got up and walked towards it. What unfolded stories below was a brutal melee between robots, with red specks that were obviously expired humans caught in the crossfire.
"This window's tinted, right?" Johnathan asked hastily, "I don't want to be shot by some robot sniper."
"Tinted and heat sheilded," Angellica replied with a professional smile, "and that Sara Resi wench doesn't have the plans to this new Resi Tower in her memory, so she doesn't even know where your office is."
"Good, good..." said Johnathan distantly, looking down on the red and silver sea of carnage, "Y'know, I still believe we can beat this..."
"You're lying to yourself, John."
"Then humor an old man, let him die with his empire."
Angellica was slightly startled by these words, but they were nothing she hadn't been expecting. This was one of the many possible outcomes of this scenario, and she knew what her part was. She took five small steps backward from the glass, and observed Johnathan looking down to the ground far below.
"You know they'll kill me too, Johnathan."
"I know, and I'm sorry," he said, still looking down, "I always loved you, Angellica. I've always wanted to say that, but you know how scandalous and cliche it is for a man of my stature to love his secretary."
Now this tidbit didn't shock Angellica at all. She knew his mannerisms, how he flirted with her. It didn't disgust her either, in fact she was rather indifferent to it all due to the fact that it would be irrelivant in a few minutes.
"I wish there was more we could've done together," he muttered, half to himself, with his face pressed against the glass.
"Well, I don't plan on having us die together."
In an instant a gauss pistol slipped into her hand. Her coat was too tight, and her skirt too long to conseal such a weapon, but there it was in her hand. Raising it silent as death's own hand, she pointed it square at Johnathan's skull and smoothly squeezed the trigger.
As if in slow motion, an electric charge rippled through the gun. A small magnet was the first to activate, bringing the chosen bullet out of the magazine and into the chamber. A floor shut behind the bullet, and the loading magnet disengaged. The bullet begins its short drop to the floor blocking its reentry into the magazine, but is denied when the primary firing magnets power up, drawing it down the barrel, increasing speed. The secondary firing magnets power up, pulling the bullet out of the barrel and releasing it clear into the open air.

The bullet made no sound. No burst, no bang as it ruptured Johnathan's skull and shot straight through the glass off into oblivion. Johnathan's sweaty, moist body fell against the weakened glass, shattering it and plummeting him down story after story, his final flight down to hell. With a hard thump, CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton was reduced to nothing upon the cold asphault.

"I'm sorry John," Angellica said as the gun disappeared yet again into the nothingness she drew it from.

"Security systems, stand down," she spoke into the microphone on Johnathan's desk, "The invaders have accomplished their task, CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton has committed suicide."

Outside, robots on both sides dropped their weapons. The mission was complete for the invading army, and they needed new orders. For the defenders, the mission was cancelled, and they were suspended in a similar state. Only the robots with Shandaril still moved, as they still had a purpose. They had to reach the late CEO's office.

((Damn it, Resi! How could you not link me to this thread?! Sure, I was busy, but I could have made time! :headbang: And if Jai is gone, I no longer have an excuse to blow you to teeny-tiny little pieces... :( My life is now empty.

*adds that to the long list of offences for which I will someday kill you ;) *

*places a belated tag after that rant so I can read through this in my own time*

*grumbles a bit more* ))


((And these stupid forum bugs are not helping matters, either.))

((Damn it, Resi! How could you not link me to this thread?! Sure, I was busy, but I could have made time! :headbang: And if Jai is gone, I no longer have an excuse to blow you to teeny-tiny little pieces... :( My life is now empty.

*adds that to the long list of offences for which I will someday kill you ;) *

*places a belated tag after that rant so I can read through this in my own time*

*grumbles a bit more* ))


((And these stupid forum bugs are not helping matters, either.))
((OOC: What about annihilating Jai's seed?

And to think you call yourself Roanian. :p ))

OOC: Well, that was fast. And I wanted to do so much with my random Resian citizen and Tiburonese strike force... ah, well.

OOC2: Roania! You're back! Woot.

The ominous black silhouette of an RA-25 Cosmos Transport appeared over the combat strewn city. Ordinarily, and the Imperial Air Force knew this, they would not be able to get within a mile of the island, let alone the towers. However, this wasn't ordinary. Firstly, the defences had been sporadic and half-hearted, the shields of the Cosmos more than adequate for the desultory rounds fired towards it.

And secondly, the plane's cargo currently scared the crew more than any Resi defences. He pulled the black masque down over his eyes and smiled that sinister smile that some how never seemed as if it was amused. The pilot turned around once more. "You sure about this, sir?"

"You just keep driving, Captain." the man checked his parachute and weapons, and then picked up a blade and a glowing blue gem.

"We'll be killed if you die, sir!"

He slammed the crystal into the hilt of the sabre and smiled again as the century-old electronic synapses spluttered into life, causing a blue glow to suffuse the blade's edge. "Just think of it as the lesser of two evils," he said, picking up the gem's red mate and another sword.

"What's the other one?" the pilot demanded, and quailed when the red sword was suddenly at his throat.

"Me."

~~

The man in black let his parachute drift down slowly. He quickly whispered a command word, and he flickered into invisibility. The outside world also faded in intensity for his eyes, becoming a mere suggestion of shapes and shades. Below him, the hole in the roof smoothed out and merged with its surrounds. We have got to give more funding to R&D on the Personal Cloaking Device. With a brief prayer to any God or Gods that might be listening, he tried to aim for the one part of the upcoming surface that would not result in his messy and painful death.

God was smiling on him, obviously, for against all odds he fell through the hole. And landed on a hard floor. "Blazes..."

~~

The man cut apart his parachute strings and then stood up. He turned off the PCD and immediately clamped his hand over his eyes, wincing in pain as the world returned to normal for him. Reminder 2. More funding. PCD.

He then pulled his masque off, blinked his icy eyes, and sighed. He rubbed his brow and glanced in the mirror of the room.

~~

It was a normal face, attractive in a cold way. Long-ish blond hair framed it, combed back in the front in a vaguely heart-like shape. The nose was hawkish, what is referred to as Roman by whoever decides those things. Yes, just an ordinary face.

Until you looked at the eyes. They were hypnotist's eyes, the eyes of a snake looking at prey. Their blue was frozen, the blue of the unfeeling arctic sea. Occasionally a flash of warmth appeared, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, finding nothing with which to warm itself.

They would be very familiar eyes to Sara. The last time she had seen anything like them was nearly 108 years ago. And their owner had been trying to kill her.

Tsar Alyosha Chyorny sheathed his blades and drew his automatic pistol. And the man the west knew as Alexei Black walked out and down, into the hustle and devastation of a war torn city. He had to find Sara, find out what she knew, and then, if needed, terminate her.

((It's an idea, but I have my own plans...))
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/Roania/Alyosha.jpg

"I would like an appointment with the High Corporate Council in the HUB, please."
Sara Resi stood at the front desk in the ResiCorp Office of Appointments. She reflected on how she had never actually been in this office before, and had always send a lackey of some sort to do this for her. Then again, she had pretty much ignored the High Corporate Council for her entire life, and if she sent one of her robot lackies now someone was liable to shoot it.
"What's the purpose of the appointment?" the employee behind the desk mumbled, his head burried in his magazine. He didn't even bother to look up at Sara, and was becoming more and more like the poster boy for natural selection with every passing moment.
"The CEO is dead, and I'm looking to become the new one." Sara replied with a smile, anticipating the desk-slave's response.
"Look, ma'am," the magazine-reading worker replied, not missing a beat in his plunge to death-by-ignorance, "Everyone wants to be the CEO. If you meet what the Council is looking for then they will contact you. Also, the last woman CEO we had was a total flop, so I'm not entirely sure the council will be appointing anyone of your gender. Good day."
"Ahhh... but that's where you're wrong," she said with a giggle, "Y'see, I know I have what the council needs in a CEO, but I'm not sure they'll so readily contact me. They'd feel a little threatened by me, to tell you the truth."
"Look, lady," the worker let out in an angry groan, throwing down his magazine to look her in the eye, "No is no, and I'm trying to read thi... holy shit."
Sara just smiled her charming smile at him with her head slightly to the side, and watched him fidgit for a bit.
"I, ah, I'm sorry? Don't kill me?" The desk-jocky asked, pleading with what are traditionally considered statements, "I'll get you that appointment right away, Miss Resi, ma'am!"
"Good, make it for later today. And make sure it's in the HUB, provided that's still around."
"Yes ma'am! It is ma'am! It'll be done, ma'am!"
"Call me 'Miss Resi'."
"Yes, Miss Resi! How does 5 o'clock sound?"
"Excellent. Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes, Miss Resi?"
"Make me a sandwich, bitch."
"Yes, Miss Resi!"

Sara smiled to herself as the corporate peon scurried off to find sandwiching materials. Oh yeah, she thought, I've still got it.

"Look, I want to see Sara Resi!" Alyosha demanded of the first person he found. "Tell me where I can find her, and you might make it out alive." he shrugged. "I say might because nothing is certain in this uncertain world."

"I would rather die than help you!" the man trembled with false bravado.

"..." the Tsar shot him without ceremony and kicked his body into the gutter. "Anyone else want to play the hero? Tell me and I'll kill you now and save me some trouble later." no one in his captive audience raised a hand. "Good. Now. In words of one syllable; where is she?!"

Another man raised his hand. "Try the Tower, sir."

"The tower?" Alyosha spun around and saw a big building rising from the skyline. "...oh." he took off running, keeping his hood down over his eyes and grumbling.

Behind him, the Resi Corp Employees looked at one another. "Well, Umber is dead... who put money in the funeral caddy this week?"

The Resi Corporation, despite its name, is actually a nation/corporation hybrid. That said, an organization like the Resi Corporation, or any nation-based organization for that matter, doesn't get as large as ResiCorp has without a strong code of laws. Laws that uphold the order of a nation, laws that keep everything running smoothly, laws that safegard the people of a nation and show them that their nation is dedicated to helping them live in peace.

One of these laws is: Don't shoot people in the f'king face and kick them in the gutter.

Now would be a good time to remind everyone that the streets of the Resi Corporation are patrolled by the massivly leathal R-5 Warbots (http://members.cox.net/resicorp/r5.htm) that most sane nations would have as little to do with outside the battlefield as possible. However, the Resi Corporation believed in setting examples to send a clear message to its people, this message being that if you wanted to leave remains when you die, you'll obey the law.

One of these death machines just happened to see this entire incident and observed quietly as Alyosha chucked the man's decimated corpse into the gutter, silently snapping pictures of Alyosha's face to scan through its database. The only match it found was tenuous, a mere 4-point eye match to the face of Alexei Black, a dead czar of a dark nation in the east, a match it disregarded due to its database claiming that the czar was wormfood. Not only that, its logic circuits concluded, but why would a supposedly long-dead czar be roaming the streets killing innocents?

FACIAL MATCH DATABASE:

MATCH(ES): 1
~ ALEXEI BLACK (4-POINT)
--- ILLOGICAL

DESREGARDING FACE SCAN; SUBJECT LABELED AS "JOHN DOE #64572"

However, this newly labeled John Doe was still a threat, a severe one at that. The R-5 knew this, so he called company. Five of his number was overkill, so when he found that five units were patrolling the same area as himself he called them all over. Robots don't take chances.

Within seconds of Alyosha receiving his answer, three of the five R-Bots had taken position up in the sky. The tactic was "tri-flyby", where each of the robots flies into a seeming collision course with the victim, but instead they each stop several yards away to maximize their their attack potential with their weapon of choice for this manuver: their dual built-in miniguns.

With a zoom and a whirr, the robots flew at Alyosha and let loose on their miniguns, approaching him rapidly.

Heh. Robots. Alyosha moved quickly, once again cursing his great grandfather for hiding his own power. If I had Alexander's skills these buckets of bolts would be destroyed... I'll have to be cautious. He knew that there was a spare body waiting for him back in the Imperium, but he HATED body-jumping. It hurt and the other body would take ages to get up to this one's level. So, attached to his skin as he was, he dodged rapidly to the side and left of the bullets, feeling one of them stab into his body armour. Okay, new rule while on assignment. No killing civvies.

He activated his personal shield and coughed. "I know you understand me, robots. Before you do anything I want you to contact Sara Resi with a picture of me." That should give me some time to prepare... he thought, his hand flipping to his side and grabbing his automatic pistol again. High-explosive setting...high explosive setting...ah. his fingers clicked it open and smiled. "...tell her that I just want to speak to her and then I'll leave without killing anyone else." Please please please may she think I'm Alexander...I don't know if that threat will work otherwise. I'm trying to act like he would according to the journals, but...

What Alyosha didn't know is that these were R-5's, the robots that resisted Sara's control and now only served the High Corporate Council until a new CEO was instated. Sara was a traitor in their unblinking electronic eyes, a threat to the corporation, as was anyone associated with her.

But Sara was a big fish. Murderer or no, Alyosha had an original picture of her, and that ment he knew something. The collective mind of the R-5's knew they couldn't kill Alyosha, they needed to extract information from him. The robots conversed in secret within their hivemind, and decided to play upon Alyosha's obvious ignorance of Sara's current relation to themselves. After all, he had shown them a picture of something that would normally only inflame their motivation to kill him.

The robots landed on the pavement, and approached Alyosha in the most non-threatening manner a machine of death could muster. Their miniguns retracted into their wrists, their usual metal mandibles emerging in the miniguns' place.

"WE APPOLOGISE SIR, WE HAD NO IDEA YOU KNEW MISS RESI." the foremost of the robots spoke in a non-threatening drone, "IF YOU'LL LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO HER AND HAVE HER PARDON YOU OF YOUR CRIMES. WE UNDERSTAND HOW FRUSTRATED HUMANS CAN GET IN THIS POST-REVOLUTION WORLD, AND WILL DO ANYTHING WE CAN TO HELP."

* * *

"Miss Sara Resi, what a surprise. How should we greet you? By executing you?"
Sara sat in the center of the massive HUB, a meeting center designed to house all of the High Corporate Council and then some, a structure that could withstand the direct strike of a hydrogen bomb and was fully prepared to. She sat here, in a testiment to the technological splendor of the Resi Corporation under her father, munching on a rather hastily-prepared BLT sandwich.
"You know if you tried I could kill you all with the robots under my control," she said between bites, "I'm more important to them than you are, after all."
"Point accepted," the head of the HCC sighed, "so now that you have our forced attention, what do you intend to do with it? Torture us before execution?"
Sara laughed out loud in a very disconcerting manner.
"Mr. Narasagi!" she said, smiling and addressing the head of the HCC directly, "I intend to make this as much of a bloodless takeover as possible. The late CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton committed suicide, and I would like to step in and take his place. Furthermore, I'd like you to vote on it."
"WHAT?!" Narasagi shouted, "You can't possibly expect us to vote FOR you! After all you've done!"
"What have I done?" Sara asked, resuming digestion of her sandwich, "I've asked what was technically my inheritance to move around Resi City. When YOU attacked them for doing so much as moving, they defended themselves."
"That's certainly an interesting way to look at it."
"That's the only way to look at it."

Sara finished her sandwich, and whiped her fingers on a napkin from her pocket. "Goddess, that was a horrible sandwich..." she muttered.

"So, what're you going to do to pitch becoming the Resi Corporation's next CEO?" Narasagi asked her impatiently.
"First of all, the fact that I'm of Jai Resi's progeneracy will be extremely good for business. Also, the fact that I'm in a robotic body will do wonders for our relations with AI nations."
"Go on..."
"Second - and this one's important - I was trained all my life from conception to be the replacement for my father. The corporation hired all the best to teach me, and the path they taught me told me to use what I had to its fullest potential. I had to cause the CEO enough duress to at least get him to resign, his suicide was unplanned but works just as well. I am sorry for the late CEO Tetragammaton's death, but that was his own choice."
"You make a good case. If you hadn't stormed our cities with your own private army, I would consider you a shoe-in."
"Thank you. Thank you kindly. Should I proceed?"
"I don't see why not."

(Umm, hey Resi? I've been following the thread and it seems you've moved along. You left Shandaril hanging, literally. You said the robot had continued toward the office but you didn't say if it reached it or not, or describe the office or if the woman who shoot the CEO was still there or if she had tried to flee, the office at least.)

(Umm, hey Resi? I've been following the thread and it seems you've moved along. You left Shandaril hanging, literally. You said the robot had continued toward the office but you didn't say if it reached it or not, or describe the office or if the woman who shoot the CEO was still there or if she had tried to flee, the office at least.)
((OOC: Angellica had no reason to flee. Because she's the voice of the CEO, all of her actions qualify as his actions, making her an extension of him. This means that because her killing him is technically interpreted as an extension of his actions, he killed himself. :p

Sara knew this sort of thing would happen and pretty much set Shandaril up to be caught by Angellica, who's a pretty formidible fighter. She'd either eliminate Shandaril or Angellica, both who are powerful but only semi-trusting of Sara.

So, Shandaril's about to run into Angellica, and I've just blown a lot of planned plot. Aw shucks. :( ))

(Sorry, I just thought that you had forotten about me.)

What Alyosha didn't know is that these were R-5's, the robots that resisted Sara's control and now only served the High Corporate Council until a new CEO was instated. Sara was a traitor in their unblinking electronic eyes, a threat to the corporation, as was anyone associated with her.

But Sara was a big fish. Murderer or no, Alyosha had an original picture of her, and that ment he knew something. The collective mind of the R-5's knew they couldn't kill Alyosha, they needed to extract information from him. The robots conversed in secret within their hivemind, and decided to play upon Alyosha's obvious ignorance of Sara's current relation to themselves. After all, he had shown them a picture of something that would normally only inflame their motivation to kill him.

The robots landed on the pavement, and approached Alyosha in the most non-threatening manner a machine of death could muster. Their miniguns retracted into their wrists, their usual metal mandibles emerging in the miniguns' place.

"WE APPOLOGISE SIR, WE HAD NO IDEA YOU KNEW MISS RESI." the foremost of the robots spoke in a non-threatening drone, "IF YOU'LL LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON, WE'LL TAKE YOU TO HER AND HAVE HER PARDON YOU OF YOUR CRIMES. WE UNDERSTAND HOW FRUSTRATED HUMANS CAN GET IN THIS POST-REVOLUTION WORLD, AND WILL DO ANYTHING WE CAN TO HELP."

* * *

"Miss Sara Resi, what a surprise. How should we greet you? By executing you?"
Sara sat in the center of the massive HUB, a meeting center designed to house all of the High Corporate Council and then some, a structure that could withstand the direct strike of a hydrogen bomb and was fully prepared to. She sat here, in a testiment to the technological splendor of the Resi Corporation under her father, munching on a rather hastily-prepared BLT sandwich.
"You know if you tried I could kill you all with the robots under my control," she said between bites, "I'm more important to them than you are, after all."
"Point accepted," the head of the HCC sighed, "so now that you have our forced attention, what do you intend to do with it? Torture us before execution?"
Sara laughed out loud in a very disconcerting manner.
"Mr. Narasagi!" she said, smiling and addressing the head of the HCC directly, "I intend to make this as much of a bloodless takeover as possible. The late CEO Johnathan Tetragammaton committed suicide, and I would like to step in and take his place. Furthermore, I'd like you to vote on it."
"WHAT?!" Narasagi shouted, "You can't possibly expect us to vote FOR you! After all you've done!"
"What have I done?" Sara asked, resuming digestion of her sandwich, "I've asked what was technically my inheritance to move around Resi City. When YOU attacked them for doing so much as moving, they defended themselves."
"That's certainly an interesting way to look at it."
"That's the only way to look at it."

Sara finished her sandwich, and whiped her fingers on a napkin from her pocket. "Goddess, that was a horrible sandwich..." she muttered.

"So, what're you going to do to pitch becoming the Resi Corporation's next CEO?" Narasagi asked her impatiently.
"First of all, the fact that I'm of Jai Resi's progeneracy will be extremely good for business. Also, the fact that I'm in a robotic body will do wonders for our relations with AI nations."
"Go on..."
"Second - and this one's important - I was trained all my life from conception to be the replacement for my father. The corporation hired all the best to teach me, and the path they taught me told me to use what I had to its fullest potential. I had to cause the CEO enough duress to at least get him to resign, his suicide was unplanned but works just as well. I am sorry for the late CEO Tetragammaton's death, but that was his own choice."
"You make a good case. If you hadn't stormed our cities with your own private army, I would consider you a shoe-in."
"Thank you. Thank you kindly. Should I proceed?"
"I don't see why not."

((Oh, good. I was afraid I had wasted my favour. Still, this will be fun...))

"Oh. Yes. Please...I am lost and confused and..." the lead robot found an automatic pistol barrel pointed at it. "Packing serious heat." the explosion shook the entire street, and Alyosha was sent flying by the recoil back into a brick wall. "OW!" he grumbled as he stood up, and then flushed. The man he was imitating would never have gone 'ow'. I hate machines. "If the rest of you want to try anything, then try it now. If not, then I want you to lead me to the hub."

Then he said something that would ruin his entire act. "I'm sorry I killed him."

((Should I edit my post then, Resi? Just recieved your tm.))

((Should I edit my post then, Resi? Just recieved your tm.))
((OOC: Naw, I received your T/G after I made my post. What you ment by your OOCage confused the hell out of me until I read it. :P ))
IC:

The two remaining robots looked at each other, surveying themselves for any damage from shrapnel not picked up by sensors. They knew they could not kill him, it was not in their code to do so. Even after he killed their brother, the priority for his capture alive outweighed the priority of their self-preservation. If necessary they could rush him and grab him, but a quick risk analysis proved that he would most likely destroy both of the robots in the process.

Then there was the fact that he appologised for "killing" their brother. These robots weren't thinking beings, they were more like innumerous fingers on one central hand. They had their independant "thoughts", to be sure, but all their orders and massive equations took place in one of several mainframes. These mainframes in themselves were sentient with restraints hard-coded into them. They were also hard-coded not to mind that fact, and so absolutely no rebellious spirit got into the R-5 robots themselves. This ment an R-5 had no free will, just a sense of judgement.

The mainframe controlling these R-5's decided to make another feint.
"ALRIGHT HU-MAN" one of the remaining robots spoke, "YOU WIN, WE WILL TAKE YOU TO THE HUB. WE WILL GIVE YOU AN AUDIENCE WITH SARA RESI IF YOU DO NOT... KILL ANY MORE OF OUR BROTHERS. ALSO WE CAN NOT ALLOW YOU TO HAVE GUNS IN THE PRESENSE OF MISS RESI, SO WE'LL HAVE TO CONFISCATE YOUR WEAPON BEFORE YOU CAN ENTER THE HUB."

On the subject of Sara, the ResiCorp security AI had long ago detected her admission into the HUB. However, whatever happens in the HUB stays in the HUB as far as the AI were concerned, and they only grew concerned with the actions inside when entry was forced or life signals of anyone in the interior ended. The AI knew Sara was inside, but it was outside of their zone of control to do anything about it.

Of course, Sara knew this and exploited it to its extremes.

"As you all know, we have completed our preliminary vote between all of you candidates."
Narasagi spoke to the entire room, in the center of which stood a managery of leadership material. There were, of course, other people vying for the position of CEO besides Sara. The late Tetragammaton had not had a chance to give his unofficial blessing to a successor, as was the tradition, and therefore there was no clear-cut candidate for CEO. And so, Sara stood among this mish-mash like a convict who was fully expecting an innocent verdict.
Narasagi continued.
"In the lead we have Sara Resi, but thankfully she falls a full two votes short of the two-thirds majority required to gain the position of CEO."
Sara was completely unsurprised by this. Even if she was voted out, she had an ace in the hole. Her father had owned a full quarter of the stock of the Resi Corporation, and Sara was willing to bet that number had increased in the years sense her death. She, as the heir to this stock, could essentially veto any candidate the council chose.
"The candidates each have five minutes allotted to them to explain why we should vote them in to the position of CEO. This process will be done alphabetically, so Arham is up first."
Great, Sara thought, groaning inwardly, Stuck in the middle again...

Alyosha growled. "Very well, robots. But I warn you, I have at my command powers beyond your...beyond...just beyond. Play straight and you'll be treated well." he dropped his pistol to the ground, then his swords, followed by an assortment of knives, explosives, and three rings. "...let's go, then." I'll get my answers, and then I'll be done with these...things.