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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 16, 2007 1:03:31 GMT -5
Mechanical doors whisked open with a distinct hiss, and out of them a group of SWATbots emerged. Dragging alongside with them was a shorter, also mechanical, body. Unlike the humanoid fodder soldiers, this smaller robot was distinctly animal shaped. Rows of long, sharp overlapping scale-like armor covered the figure, cascading down onto its powerful tail. Finitevus was smiling as he was he was roughly carried on toward the fortress' maintenance facility. The pangolin doctor had been confined to a small but tightly secured research room where, after his roboticization to ensure his cooperation, he has being forced to re-create the main dimensional gate that served as a pathway and trading post between his homeworld, the Chaos dimension, and the Sol dimension. It was both unfortunate for him and in his world's favor that this gate, largest of any other, had to be powered by an artificially created Chaos and Sol Emerald. He had less experience with the smaller off-shoots later created that were able to run merely on chaos or sol drives. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to leave this room on his own volition. Having been given back only a portion of his free will to harness his knowledge, the doctor was forced to obey orders given to him, and this included the inability to leave the room on his own volition. Also unfortunate was that, if Robotnik hadn't learned it by now, he soon surely would, that Finitevus was as clever as he was stubborn and willful. With only his meager amount of freedom at his disposal he utilized it to its fullest extent, manipulating and loopholing the commands of his programming at every chance presented to him. And now he had practically managed to force Robotnik to give him clearance to leave that accursed room, having managed to detach one of his own arms without being noticed. Which brought him to his current situation. Of course, now that he was out would come the tricky part. His main goal had been to try finding a moment to contact Isis and Julie, assuming their communicators were working, of course... He had doubts of his ability to escape, but if an opportunity did present itself, who was he to argue with it? In the meantime, he merely bobbed his head back and forth, singing just above a whisper to a tune only he could hear.
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Post by Leda on Sept 17, 2007 13:03:37 GMT -5
Upon arrival to the maintenance bay, several worker bots of various kinds were at the door to greet the party. As this was a very special cargo, messages had already been sent out to expect its arrival. Finitevus' custody was transferred over to the roboticized mob, swamping him in that every limb was restrained by a robian, until the group had secured him to one of the work tables.
A silver, slightly dingy hedgehog was among them.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 17, 2007 20:03:03 GMT -5
The workers were met with an irate face at the treatment, though Finitevus never tried to resist as he was shackled down onto the table. Instead he just pointed his nose up into the air indignantly. "Your bedside manners are atrocious."
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Post by Leda on Sept 17, 2007 23:16:51 GMT -5
The robians took no notice of their prisoner's comment, instead going about their business of connecting Finitevus' motherboard to the main computer console for a diagnostic check. While his hard drive was checked for errors, the hedgehog from before approached with the severed arm. Setting the limb aside on a tray table, he turned to the form restrained for just about any movement at all. The robian's eyes flashed red as his fingertips inverted, reappearing a moment later with a screwdriver and a soldering iron.
@chuck@ Looks like Robotnik finally got you, too, the hedgehog silently transmitted to Fini's internal CPU. Don't worry, Zack; it may take me a bit, but I'll get you out of here as soon as I can.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 17, 2007 23:25:24 GMT -5
The pangolin's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden foreign transmission, his entire thought process involving what his next move was going to be grinding to a screeching halt. He looked around, trying to search out the one who contacted him. <... Who are you? How did you know my name?>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 10:27:26 GMT -5
@chuck@ Its me, Charles. Did the roboticizer disorient yo-- As the robian inspected the prisoner's disconnected limb, he noticed an oddity; this wasn't the design he recognized from either Zachary's original or home-made robotic arm. Had it not been such a risk to change his facial expression, Uncle Chuck probably would've furrowed his brow. Was this an effect of the roboticizer trying to work on an already robotic part? He couldn't know for himself, because he'd never had any reason to test his own roboticizer in that way.
Chuck moved around the end of the table, in theory to retreive some extra solder, but actually just to buy himself time to mull the conundrum over. In the process he passed the pangolin's powerful tail -- which was clearly not an echidna's tail. The hedgehog realized he'd made a error.
I'm sorry, I seem to have been mistaken, Uncle Chuck silently transmitted as he reappeared at Fini's side. You have a very strong resemblence to an aquaintance of mine, and your species is fairly close to his as well. I didn't realize that you weren't an echidna.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 10:36:23 GMT -5
Needless to say, that last sentence caught the pangolin's attention. <... An echidna?>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 10:51:16 GMT -5
@chuck@ A small whisp of smoke began to float into the air as Chuck set about soldering the wires back together. Yes, I'm sorry. Echidnas aren't exactly common around here, but your species is even less common. I'm guessing you're a pangolin? It truely was a guess; he'd certainly seen pangolins now and then before the coup, but had never known one personally. As he'd said, they were just very uncommon.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 11:26:03 GMT -5
Aren't exactly common?! Finitevus thought in astonishment. And further more, they were more common than his own species?! Allowing a moment for that thought to sink in he supposed it wasn't exactly improbable... he was, after all, in an entirely new world. So, even though echidnas were technically extinct where he came from... He idly wondered if Mobius also had thylacines or even mammoths running around. Imagine the possibilities. He may very well have been in a gold mine of research material! But enough of that now. He had other concerns at the moment. <Yes, I am a pangolin. Manis temminckii, if you want to be specific. What was that name you called me earlier?>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 11:57:18 GMT -5
@chuck@ I mistook you for a friend of mine named Zachary, though I frequently just call him "Zack". It's a bit of a relief to know I was wrong -- not to say that I'm please that you've been roboticized. With the electrical lines re-established, Chuck turned and ordered one of the other robians to run a test. Outside of Fini's will, the fingers in his newly connected hand flexed one by one, then closed into a fist. That having been accomplished, a nearby worker bot unhooked him from the main computer while Uncle Chuck went to work resetting the casing.
By the way, I just realized that we never really introduced ourselves. As I said before, my name is Charles, or Chuck if you perfer.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 12:09:20 GMT -5
If he were still organic his throat might have restricted at the response, a wealth of new questions puzzling him. But since he wasn't he just stared cautiously at Chuck, mentally debating over which of his names to give him. He'd already pretty much blurted out earlier that his name was 'Zack'... besides, what were the chances he had any connection to that princess anyway? <... Zachary Acerbus. Doctor Zachary Acerbus.>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 12:18:15 GMT -5
@chuck@ Chuck's screwdriver nearly tossed its screw at that tidbit of information. Despite the knowledge that he had to keep up his drone persona while "on the job", his eyes dimmed and darted over to the prone pangolin's face for briefest moment.
....You're kidding.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 12:20:14 GMT -5
Cue the eyeroll. <Why would I lie about my name?>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 12:47:31 GMT -5
....Nothing, nothing. That's just a... really remarkable coincidence. Chuck allowed his eyes to cast a second hopefully unnoticed glance, this time at Fini's tail, as though to reaffirm for himself that this was not an echidna. Anyway, I'll try and find an opportunity to come and get you as soon as possible. If all else fails, I'll make an opportunity myself. Just try to be patient.He privately pondered over Fini's retension of his free will; when he'd mistaken the pangolin for Zachary the Echidna, the outburst about the bedside manners had not seemed too unusual, though extremely ill-advised. With Zachary such a fan of his, Uncle Chuck had made the deductive leap of guessing that he'd remembered his own description of overriding his programming and had applied it. Now with the knowledge that this robian was not, in fact, the Zachary he knew (despite the striking similarities), the fact that he apparently had free will struck him as remarkable -- and the fact that he felt no need to hide it was equally puzzling. Chuck would definitely have some investigating to do.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 13:59:57 GMT -5
Finitevus looked directly at Chuck, studying him carefully before glancing over at the other robians. What was this guy's story anyway? <Why would you help me?>
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Post by Leda on Sept 18, 2007 14:08:09 GMT -5
@chuck@ Because it's the right thing to do. You don't deserve to be Robotnik's slave any more than the rest of us do, and while I want to help everyone, you're one of the lucky few that somehow has free will. You're someone I can help. Chuck screwed in the last piece of the casing, thus finishing the maintenance work. Upon completion, a slew of other worker bots came to resume the swamping method to transfer Finitevus back to the custody of the waiting Swatbots. I'll get back to you soon, the hedgehog transmitted one last time. I have to keep up the illusion of doing Robotnik's dirty work, but every now and then I'm able to slip away. I'll find you when that chance comes. Wait for me.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 18, 2007 21:07:14 GMT -5
Wonderful, a goody-two-shoes. Finitevus thought at the hedgehog's explanation, resisting the urge to roll his eyes into his head. Then one particular comment Chuck made struck him, forcing the pangolin to snerk outwardly, a snerk which then quickly digressed into a hysterical laughter. <Free will?! That's a good one!> As he found himself surrounded again, this time the pangolin didn't stand idly by and allow himself to be manhandled. As soon as the shackles were off he gave himself a violent jerk, rending himself loose and tossing himself straight off the table. His powerful tail arched up behind him ready to strike, its rows of surgically sharp scales flipping out menacingly, and the very arm Chuck had just been working on whirred as it shifted into a laser cannon. But he wasn't interested in a fight. So rather than waiting around for any of them to move in first he abruptly turned, dashing toward a vent opening he'd noticed earlier. Blasting its cover off with his cannon he crawled inside - finding it surprisingly far more spacious than he would have guessed - and vanished, though his metallic footfalls could still be heard echoing loudly from within. <Alright Charles,> he had continued to transmit during all of this. <I might take you up on that offer later. But for now I did not go through all the trouble of detaching my arm for nothing. Now then, I have something I need to take care of. Toodles!>
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Post by Lans on Sept 19, 2007 1:04:59 GMT -5
And just as Fini was escaping, around the corner came a robian, infront of which were a pair of unusual prisoners.
"The repair bay should be just ahead," Inari/Jonas said quietly to Isiss.
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Post by Leda on Sept 19, 2007 23:05:54 GMT -5
@chuck@ Zachary, wait!! Chuck transmitted quickly, even though he knew it was useless. If he'd learned anything from observing this pangolin, it was that he did not deviate once he'd made up his mind. Though his body scrambled along with the other worker bots after the fleeing robian, Uncle Chuck sighed on the inside. This was proving to be an extremely unusual day. An extremely unusual day that he was completely out of the loop on.
Chuck hated being out of the loop.
Though he still made the motions of trying to re-capture Finitevus, the hedgehog slowly edged to the side of the group, until he was able to break away entirely. As soon as he was away from the watch of the repair bay, Uncle Chuck broke into a run. He had to get back to his bunker and find out what the hell was going on, pronto!
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Post by Jamie Lee on Sept 21, 2007 8:20:24 GMT -5
((Since I agreed to temp Robotnik while Raki is gone >_>) Finitevus never looked back, charging through the ventilation system without any particular destination in mind. It was truly disorienting to him; he could see the rushing movement of his surroundings in his peripheral, he could hear his footfalls as he fled, but he couldn't feel the air swirling around him or the weight of his body as he hit the ground and pushed himself off again. He normally had an excellent sense of balance, but he knew by the way the environment seemed to waver his gait was unstable. No time to worry about that, though. He knew he probably only had a few seconds to pull off what he'd set out to accomplish before he'd lose the chance entirely. Pulling out his hand-held communicator as he ran he flipped it open and began to quickly work at manipulating it; at the same time he was busy configuring his internal communicator to be able to access the Dark Legion's frequency. A useful little feature indeed. Though programming wasn't the pangolin's strongest suit, he knew more than enough to get him by, and during his time spent cooped up working on the research material Robotnik had provided him he was also studying his own newly acquired programming. Though it seemed he was locked out from touching the programming responsible for making him... obedient... he did notice there were other things he was capable of tweaking and altering. Suddenly he was forced to receive a transmission. <Halt.> Finitevus' foot planted itself so firmly into the ground so fast he tripped, slamming hard into the floor with a loud bang, his communicator flying out of his hand and skidding down the vent pathway. He made a motion to reach out to retrieve it, only to discover his body refused to inch any further forward. He drew his hand back with a scowl, hoping those robians still behind him wouldn't notice it when they caught up. <A little warning would have been nice.> From where he sat back in his control room, Robotnik's brow furrowed with displeasure at the comment. <Tell me, pangolin, what, exactly, do you think you're doing?> <Trying to escape, of course.> It wasn't a lie. Even though he knew he probably wouldn't he still had the legitimate full intent of trying. Though it was unseen Robotnik's mustache twitched, nose wrinkling toward his forehead. <Is that all?> he ridiculed, <And yet I'm sure you're aware just how pointless such an act is when you know I can merely order your return on a whim?> Finitevus squinted, mentally fighting against him programming to resist divulging the full truth. <What can I say, it was worth the try.> Robotnik's voice scoffed condescendingly. <Really? You really seem to underestimate me,> then, with a more serious tone, <Now that your little escapade is over you're going to turn yourself in to the guards peacefully and return to your work,> he paused for a moment, his lips sagging into a deeply unamused frown. <And this time I don't care if your head falls off, you will not leave that room or make any further attempts to escape. Am I clear?> The pangolin resisted the subconscious urge to feel at his neck as he visualized the bizzare mental image. With a scowled he picked himself up and dusted off, glancing at the group of robians that had just finally caught up with him as the tyrant finished his sentence. <Hmph. Quite,> he muttered, allowing them to swarm around him and restrain him. He stared longingly and irritably in the direction his communicator had been tossed and scowled even further at his inability to retrieve it as he was carried off. At least he'd managed to finish configuring his internal com-link. Though he knew that if that hand-held was found he was going to be in serious trouble... that is, if all his effort even worked out in the first place. He was taking a huge gamble with this stunt of his, unsure of if the legion communicators would even work in the first place in this world or if they'd been damaged or what. But seeing as it was the only option currently available to him, he had little other choice. He couldn't exactly sit and try to rely on luck. Fate always had a way of kicking him in the rear after all. Humph. he thought as he recalled Robotnik's last statement. He couldn't make anymore escape attempts on his own... But Robotnik never said anything about not trying to orchestrate a rescue...
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Post by Riyami on Sept 21, 2007 18:03:35 GMT -5
Meanwhile, just outside the room, Isis nodded to the Inari controlled robian still eager to get her robotic limb back to it's normal functionality. However, her eagerness, as well as her pace, was halted as her large canine ears perked and caught the faint noises of the commotion inside the adjacent room. "wait...theres someone inside..." She whispered. Isis inwardly cursed her unfortunate luck.
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Post by DB on Sept 24, 2007 19:01:06 GMT -5
A certain alien experiment was also one of the 'prisoners', being rather quiet and not making a peep. Apparently, he thought this 'game' was fun, and it showed through the big, stupid grin he had. To emphasis how stupid said grin was... his tongue was hanging out.He didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he didn't care. Either way.
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Post by Lans on Sept 28, 2007 13:59:46 GMT -5
"Wait here, I'll investigate," Inari told Isiss before having Jonas head over to the room, looking for all the world like a good little robian simply on its way in for maintenance. Then suddenly he seemed to pause and then stumble...
...He was free. He didn't know how it happened, but he was FREE. It had been bad enough that Robotnik had roboticized him and turned him into a slave, but THESE people, who obviously had the ability to free him in the first place, had turned him into nothing more than a puppet, a remote control doll.
Well...now lets see how THEY liked it.
Jonas spun around, pointing straight at Isiss and 27 and shouted, "INTRUDER ALERT! CAPTURE BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK!"
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Post by Riyami on Nov 28, 2007 1:44:56 GMT -5
Isis sneered. Of all times for Inari to lose control of the robian... She quickly lunged forward and grabbed for the robian's face, attempting to push it into the room and out of any other robot's notice. [dice=6][rand=59745281759893960293687229510831731428178336894125900104594812187]
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Post by DB on Dec 1, 2007 23:39:52 GMT -5
27's tongue returned to his maw with the sudden burst of action. Was this part of the game...? He was rather confused now. "... er..."
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Post by Lans on Dec 3, 2007 2:38:12 GMT -5
[dice=6] However the Robian managed to jerk out of the way and ducked down a side passage, still spouting off about an intruder alert to any other bots in hearing range.[rand=934622561007729120754440622199413082247999428122024635202930710975]
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Post by V for Vizetta on Dec 3, 2007 2:44:57 GMT -5
Anansi had blacked out while she was transmitting herself, so found herself 'coming to' in a cyberscape that seemed... odd. It didn't look like a normal computer system, in fact, it looked like a digital parody of, well, what she imagined a living mind to look like. This comparison of course brought to mind a possibility... what if she was in an AI? That would explain the "terrain"... So she decided to find out.
"Uhm.... Hello?" Anansi transmitted her 'voice' as well as she could, would would have most likely had a result similar to a voice in the back of a person's mind.
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Post by Jamie Lee on Dec 3, 2007 3:24:49 GMT -5
((Other character stuff mostly by their respective players *snerk* Though I did add some minor details here and there for better flow.)) <Isis, Julie?> Finitevus' voice could suddenly be heard speaking from Isis' hammerspace, <Are either of you receiving this? Respond!> There was a sound like someone smacking their communicator. <... eheheh.> There was a bit of a static hiss as another voice carried over the network. <I hear ya, doc, but I'm a little busy trying not to DIE at the moment.> Another voice came through, foreign to Isis, although slightly garbled due to the volume it was yelling at. <JU-IE! WHE-- AR- YOU!?> Another foreign voice quickly followed it, shrieking loudly in the background. <HEY! PUT HIM DOWN YOU CREEP!> There was a long pause for the other end. <... Who was that?> < o-ow...>
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Post by V for Vizetta on Dec 3, 2007 3:36:48 GMT -5
Anansi just... froze at the sudden rush of voices, wincing a little. She recognized most of the voices as being members of the Dark Legion... and Fini! She could hear Fini!
"Doc? Where are you? I'm lost in some wierd cyberspace and..." At the moment, something clicked.
She couldn't feel her connection to her body.
"OH CRAP. WHERE'S MY BODY!?" Anansi had only had this happen VERY rarely, so... started panicking a little.
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Post by Riyami on Dec 3, 2007 20:08:50 GMT -5
Isis inwardly growled at the robian's sudden spout of audacity but left it be, at least now she would be able to repair her arm to at least some form of functionality. Isis turned and waved to 27, calling him inside the room as the transmission started to come through. Lucky for Isis, the communicator was built into the collar of her cloak, and not her malfunctioning arm. Isis only recognized the voices of the two pangolins, the others she ignored. Isis Spoke into the communicator, but kept it quiet so to not draw any more unwanted attention as she headed toward a table with numerous robotics tools laid across it. "Isis responding."
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