daisy023 | REPORT 018 :: SIMULATION // ACTION

Entry tags:

REPORT 018 :: SIMULATION // ACTION | VOICE

[ACTION]

[Once again, SPARTAN-023 walks towards the Battle Dome, trying to see if it had been fixed already. Having been a raining day, yesterday was unbearable for the taller girl in a red jumpsuit, so she tries her luck again... But she stops on her tracks. She could hear something near the village. Her keen ears were able to hear familiar things from the woods.

The Chief Petty Officer walks towards these voices, and presses the voice function of her journal.

She removes the safety lock of her pistol.]

[VOICE]

[There is the low rustling of leaves, sign of someone moving stealthily... and whispers in a language that the wings translate into one deep military voice, and three high-pitched ones.

A lone alien voice yells in panic upon seeing the woman.]

Covenant!

[There are more alien screams of alert upon hearing the growl of the Spartan, before rapid gunshots mute one of the high-pitched voices, making the rest of the voices panic and shoot. The deep voice roars devout threats before it is interrupted by the sound of a broken body, followed by alien gunshots that mute the remaining voices.]

This is SPARTAN-023. I need a sitrep. Now.

((OOC: Set the moment the simulated drones begin to show up, at 12:00pm. Even if in this post Daisy is concerned over the Covenant, you can bring in your own monsters and items! :D))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Looks like it. I've seen all sorts of stuff today, not just Covenant. [It calms her down somewhat. Somewhat. It means there is not a Covenant warship on orbit ready to glass the planet, but this is something that risks too many people.]

We'll have to cross the bridge. Stay behind me.

[... There's something unusual about the corpses of the Covenant, Robert realizes. It's enough to distract his attention for a second from the strangeness.]

... Are they disappearing...?

[And indeed they are - vanishing in sudden bursts of light, as if phased out of existence.]

...

I... h-have never seen anything like that, from a-any... non-human sapient.

My CO reported they're vanishing as soon as they're beaten. They're going down too easy.

[Her head lowers. This sounds familiar.]

I've seen it happen in the--

[She pushes herself and Robert down. There are whistles that clank upon hitting walls. Daisy sees Red-hot spikes of metal.

From beyond, Daisy could hear gutural growls that translated to threats of savage nature. Three ape-like monsters bigger than even the Spartan.]

[Robert goes down almost pathetically easily under Daisy's hands, but fear keeps him from crying out.

Where are they? His voice is a hoarse whisper when he addresses Daisy, trying desperately not to be heard by... whatever those creatures are.]

M-Ms. Daisy... wh-where are we? Is... is this your world...?

Edited 2011-07-30 01:51 (UTC)

[Daisy rises to fire her alien weapon, impaling one of them several times before it vanishes in an explosion.]

Brutes! keep moving! [She stays there to cover him where ever he ran to.] I hope not! I hate plasma!

[When she's not the one using it, that is. But there were reasons everyone in her world hated it.]

((OOC: The goddamned link! Sorry! ;_;))

(OOC: It's fine! \o/)

[Robert sprints a few feet - enough to get him out of immediate range, and he's actually a lot faster than he was when running from Yuber - before whirling around.] Ms. Daisy, c-come with me, please!...

[They're disappearing again. Is this normal for them?]

Right behind you.

[Her tone is neutral. Entranced. Daisy runs with Robert, matching her pace with the scientist's, her weapon focused on the Brutes. Around one of the corners, the Spartan spots the Brute pair, and impales them with more of the shattering rounds before they took notice of her.

The remaining one sees its' parner falls. It throws its' weapon to the ground, roars in rage in a manner similar to an enraged primate, and hurls itself against the Spartan. Ironically the most fitting species to fall under Robert's stereotype of warriors being barbarians.

She vanishes it in another explosion of crystals before it even gets close, and follows Robert. But she takes notice of the bodies disappearing.]

They're not the Covenant.

[She whispers.]

There is something wrong - they should not be disappearing...

D-Do you think it might be... [He searches for a word to convey this concept...]

... S-Simulated?

[He had always considered the possibility of the whole compound being simulated. It was possible. He was never entirely certain - accurate simulations could tap into the brain thoroughly. And he'd heard that the Battle Dome was accurate. And now the Dome was being strange.

... He finds himself worrying about Molly. But more importantly -]

... D-Did... did that... p-person hurt you...?

Sir?

[The statements are odd... but make sense.

She scans Robert, then over her own body to check for injuries.

The Spartan notices a mark someplace in her thigh... Not as deep, or as severe, as what a lot of injuries made by Covenant weapons would've been. She didn't even notice she had been shot until the Doctor asked. Out of her armor, and with her abilities halved, her speed and reflexes had been limited too much.

Had a shot grazed her?... Or hit her?

Daisy looks more puzzled by her injury, rather than concerned. She didn't even feel damaged muscles that could hamper her movement.]

Don't worry, it's not bad. [She had received much worse injuries before. She stops to think of something else.] Those guys vanish like they do in the Battle Dome. Every time they're taken down, they dissolve to let the facility keep the processing power.

[The Chief hovers her hand near her injury, but stops when she thinks of the Doctor.] How much did you learn from Nala?

[Robert looks downright ashamed of himself.] I still have difficulty even perceiving her, m-much less making contact... I think that my w-world's differences make the process much harder for me.

[Or he could honestly just suck at it. Or both. But either way...]

... The injury d-does not seem... severe. F-For an attack like that, at least...

... If these are s-simulations, can... c-can they even h-hurt us severely...? [He's never used the Battle Dome before, never having had a reason...]

I'm from a world without magic, too. Don't sweat it.

[She puts a hand over her injury, closing her eyes. Might as well test this herself now and see how much had she learned... The burn mark dissolves, replaced by renewed skin.

It feels just like MediGel. Daisy blinks before they continue their way.]

The Dome has safety limits, even when you want it to hurt you. Every time someone is harmed in a way that his life could be lost, the sim immediately shuts down. It can harm you, but never to kill you if you were unattended.

[She takes position near a corner, taking a quick peek.]

But you're right. For Covenant weapons, it's too weak.

[... Could it explain why hadn't they found more in these few moments?]

[Robert watches in fascination as the burn mark disappears like it was never even there. Well... he certainly needs to figure out a way to use this sometime.]

... That... c-could explain some things... p-perhaps this is a simulation similar to the B-Battle Dome's, then...? I mean, this entire enclosure is artificial... presumably there is a manner of controlling the simulations.

[It's actually reassuring if it's true. Then it means Daisy didn't really kill anything. Though Robert knows that if they had been real, she probably would've done the same thing. It's still enough to make his stomach drop - that fluid perfection her motions had had while killing...]

[The possibility makes her pause for a second.]

GLaDOS.

[She hisses to herself. Was that machine rampant?]

The way looks clear. I'll take point and cover you.

[The Spartan moves out of cover.

She had done the same when she first assumed the Covenant were real... Had she worn her armor, the title of "death machine" would have been more fitting than ever.]

[Robert isn't certain if GLaDOS could control the entire enclosure - though she certainly did seem capable of manipulating parts of the Battle Dome.]

A-Alright.

Wh-where should we be heading...? [Even as he asks, he's setting himself up for another short dash. He doesn't think he can ever remember hearing where Daisy lived, and it will be even harder to get there than it would normally.]

Community Housing five. Seventh floor. Crossing the bridge.

[She dashes to the front, directing her weapon everywhere she was unable to look.

There were more threats, but they hadn't seen them yet.]

Go.

[Robert nods again, lining himself up for the sprint. He's definitely not the trained body Daisy is - not even a ghost of it - but he is going to make this count as much as he damn well can.

And when Daisy says go, he starts running.

The time spent in Luceti has greatly increased his strength and endurance - enough that his flat sprint actually covers the distance to the bridge in a surprisingly short time, and though his breathing is a little ragged he's able to keep it up without significantly slowing, trying to make his way to Community Building Five.

Of course, the environment might decide not to cooperate with either of them...]

[He had improved. Daisy reminds herself to offer Robert a chance to exercise and zen together once this thing ends... And once he comes to terms with what he saw her do.

Her eyes still scan the area, with her weapon at forty-five degrees, and spots a Jackal that locks on to them.

Daisy shoots the creature in the chest before it can raise its' shield.]

We're not far off!

[Robert tries not to watch the precise firing of Daisy's weapon into the abdomen of the avian-like creature. He tries not to think about how reflexive, how easily done it was.

This is Daisy. This is... what she does. It's what she's been trained to do. It makes sense that she would be able to kill so efficiently - just, seeing it in action right there is disconcerting.

The burn in his lungs distracts him from all else, and he keeps up his sprint until the Community Building looms into their vision - patchwork, with pieces of random worlds stuck into and onto it at random. He wonders how much of it is actually the building, right now.]

[The Spartan knows what the Doctor may be thinking right now. About what she is. Even people from her world were amazed at how easily could she and her group end lives. This talk... would have to be one they'd need to have.

But not now.

She notices the shift in worlds melded into her building. As if pieces of many places had been stuck along with her quarters.]

Oh, come on.

[Daisy says to herself.

She stands by the side of the door, directs Robert to do the same, then opens the door with her weapon moving in a trained pattern to clear a building. The interior looked like the ruins of a mesoamerican civilization consumed by vegetation.

She goes up the stairs that had been changed for stonework that reminded her of the last draft. Her floor should be found soon enough. They were close.]

[Robert picks his way through the thick carpet of foliage that obscures everything. If he wasn't so worried about what it might bring, he'd be examining everything. It's beautiful and it piques his scientific curiosity intensely, and he really wishes that it didn't accompany this event, or that at least there was nothing dangerous about it.]

Ms. D-Daisy...? Is... is the way clear?

[He trusts her judgment far more than he trusts his own in this case.]

I don't see anything.

[It is honesty. As augmented as her senses were, she could be taken by surprise.

She goes up the stairs, seventh floor, then to the stone door where her room should be. Like when they first found the Community Housing, she stands by the side. She opens the the door...]

[And her stance slowly breaks. Her weapon lays low in one hand. She stands still for almost a minute.

Beyond her door, she sees an island.]

[Robert's jaw drops, and he stares open-mouthed for a moment. He hadn't expected this much... space could fit in an apartment.

... An entire island. And it's beautiful.]

M-M... Ms. Daisy...?

[He cautiously extends his fingers, expecting a wall that doesn't greet them.] ...

[In spite of all her training, combat experience, and everything she had gone through in two worlds, all of her senses are overwhelmed. Thousands of memories come to her. Tastes, words, games, toys.

She mutters things too low for anyone to hear.

Robert's words bring her back to Luceti. Her pupils return to normal. Daisy looks at the scientist, awkwardly. This time, her eyes completely separate from those of the weapon Robert had seen seconds ago.]

I'm fine. [She mutters. Insincere to herself.] I'm fine.

... Let's move.

[Those same thoughts had crossed her mind. Maybe the Dome had found a way to mess with space.

She takes point, but her march is slow, almost a walk. Her weapon is high to check for threats, but she hears nothing alien. Nothing that shouldn't be there.

She hears the ocean. She feels its' breeze. She sees the flowers in the gardens of that house.

Her house.]

[Robert is... more confused than anything. Daisy seems lost, almost, to him. Like she isn't quite sure of anything right now. He can't read expressions well, but he's starting to get used to hers, and her eyes...

He feels overcome by the inane urge to protect her. Him. The pathetic barely-under-five-foot-five scrawny little scientist, protecting the sculpted death machine...

... Nevertheless, he goes to gently take her hand, if she'll allow it.

Either way, he'll fall into step with her, taking in the sights of a foreign ocean - a foreign ocean that, by all rights, should never fit in this building.]

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