dappledleaves | THE WORLD: PSL LIFE

[Sinclair shakes his head]

I'm fine. [ From here, he doesn't need a map] My team's meeting point isn't too far from here.

[ He takes Oria's hand, and they make their escape out into the back lot of the sprawling complex that is Kayser Corp. Judging by the smoke emanating from certain parts of the building, the terrorists had hit it hard.

And a few employees who hadn't made it beyond the abnormalities were basically in pieces along the basement. Sinclair averts his gaze, squeezing Oria's hand a little harder.

It was more important to get him and Oria out of here than to mourn people he didn't know]

This way.

Edited 2023-12-22 21:03 (UTC)

[ Oria doesn't even look at the bodily bits and gore littered all over the place in a way that ignores something that you're used to seeing that no longer deserves to be the focus of your attention. He understands that hand squeeze, so he squeezes it in return and sends signals with the emergency button that he is fine. ]

It's not too long after this. Can't wait to take a shower and sleep on a bed.

[Oria was used to this, Sinclair notes. Not the abnormalities, but the carnage.

These ones weren't even fully formed, Sinclair thinks grimly as he leads Oria through a winding route with plenty of cover. Once he got back to the bus, they'd be okay, he thinks]

Mm. A long shower and a nap would be nice about now.

Yeah. It's too bad. Kayser Corp really got their karma. If a terrorist group has their eye on them alone, maybe they should hire better guards first? Preferably nothing slimy either.

[ ... Anyway. ]

I don't think we're under NDA either from whatever happened today, but. Wow. I don't think we can even tell anyone if we wanted to.

[ Monsters? Seriously? Some magic shit? Bruh. ]

Maybe we should just shut down Kayser Corp instead. They're insane.

[Slimy...? Sinclair doesn't dwell too long on that part. He raises his hand to his chin, frowning]

We're not under NDA, but there's...um. Other groups, government organised that, well...

[Yeah. Yeaaaaaaah]

I wasn't expecting such a big corporation to get so reckless though. Those terrorists were former employees too, so. They upset a lot of people.

Organized what?

[ Tell him the deets, Sinclair. Oria is still new to all this, so he wants as much information as he can possibly get.

Regardless of people being upset, a terrorist group is still a terrorist group. He knows his mom is going to ham on them in particular. ]

Our company wasn't the first to get involved in this. It's more like, we're a branch to clean up the original company's mess. The government gave the original corporation a lot of money and facilities to do research into people - how to extend people beyond their limits. Something like super soldiers or weapons. It took a different turn though, when they realised their experiments could produce a great deal of energy they could harness for other things. [Exhaling softly. You're getting the cliff notes, Oria] Everything was shut down ten years ago after some incident that wiped out all the facilities...but a lot of those 'abnormalities' escaped. That's all I know though. My clearance level is really low.

We really had an entire corporation like a monster zoo and ever since that got destroyed, the monsters broke out? And it was never leaked to the public? Ever??

[ He thinks this part is much more fascinating because what the fuck. ]

If the enforcement is that heavy, I wonder what happen to Kayser Corp.

Anyone that leaked it got painted as crazy, I think.

[ In the day of CGI and all...It was easy to paint things on screen as nothing more than a well designed movie or video game]

Is it so hard to believe they had a lot of support in covering things up after CCCorp?

[ Two months of radio silence and all.

As for Kayser Corp...]

... Kayser Corp probably would have been able to conceal it better if you weren't in the thick of it.

Edited 2023-12-22 22:24 (UTC)

Well, that's that and...

[ Well. ]

Okay, you got me. I bet that would have costed a bunch of money... should I be expecting some shady people at my doorstep some time in the future that's either trying to bribe me or threaten me into compliance?

[ Sinclair laughs nervously]

Um. Probably very soon. It's hard knowing what goes on in Ms. Faust's head sometimes.

[ Dante was friendly enough but...]

From what I saw of her demeanor, she doesn't seem like the kind of person I'd want to try and persuade of anything.

[ It sounds like a waste of time, but her type is also extremely satisfying to topple, but that's just Oria's problem. ]

I'll deal with it when it happens.

[ He looks up. This must be the exit. Time to leave this godforsaken place. ]

If nothing else...she likes to make fair deals.

[Sinclair's hands go tense around his baton as they shoulder the exit open. They're hit by blaring sirens, fire trucks lined up to douse flames from the other complex, and in the distance.

Sinclair exhales in relief]

Everyone made it out alright...

[Though judging by the way Dante was holding his head, he was having a conniption over...something. Sinclair decides he just doesn't want to know]

[ Oria's pretty sure that his dad regrets leaving him there, but this was of Oria's own choice. Sometimes things like this happen, and this isn't the first time. It's just that it's a first time when it happened that involved things that seemed to be out of this world.

But that can be addressed a different time. ]

Uh... Clockhead seems to be distraught. You wanna go check up on them? I'll be fine.

Okay. [Softly, he squeezes Oria's hand before he lets go.

...clock, head huh?] I'll see you later.

[He thinks with how battered everyone looks, and the ensuing mess, they'll get some down time for awhile. He jogs off to rejoin the group, responding to some distant rapid fire signs. Ah. This was a problem after all. Their contract was up in smoke, they had essentially been betrayed...

...Dante must have gotten stuck with Faust, Ryoshu and Heathcliff in the escape.]

[ Poor Dante... Oria watches Sinclair go to regroup with the others as he meets with his own bodyguards. He catches a glimpse of the signing, but he can't really see all of it clearly. Right now, he's been trying to hold back a raging headache. Perhaps it's from suddenly wearing contacts or perhaps there was some mental damage from the abnormality from its presence alone. It was like being face to face with a physical rendition of his trauma despite its form not being the actual trauma itself--at least one associated with Oria.

Either way, the monsters left a bad taste in his mouth as he's further taken away from the scene. Needless to say, Kayser will not have gotten funding from the Severines and Oria's mother will have cracked down on the Technology Liberation Alliance. Despite Oria's fear of being replaced, she is still the dangerous mama bear when her children are in danger. She loves them so much, even if her method is misplaced.

A few days later, Sinclair will be getting a phone call from Oria. ]

[The next few days are a blur. They had been lucky that day. The abnormalities that had escaped and been unleashed were low tier ones. Still capable of massive damage, but not ones that required the entire team to subdue. What they had to face later, a twitching writhing mass of flesh that rendered most people into madness, temporary or otherwise...

Sinclair's glad Oria didn't have to face that one directly. Sinclair is resting up in bed in his hotel room when he answers the call, a wave of relief washing over him. After everything that had happened, he had been worried]

Oria. How are you after everything?

Edited 2023-12-23 00:40 (UTC)

I feel like I'm recovering from getting hit by a truck that would take me to another world...

[ No isekais here. ]

But I'm finally well enough to have a phone call with you. How about you? How have you been doing, after all that? You got injured more than I did. Are you back in Seattle?

It's usually like that the first few times.

[Haaaah...Sinclair glances at his sleeping team, toes on his shoes, grabs a jacket and sneaks out to the lobby]

I'm fine. I'm still in the Valley. There were a few thing that popped up and...it delayed our return.

Like the plans with Kayser Corp falling through? They're the entire reason you're even here in the first place, isn't it?

[ And everything is expensive here, even the hotels... rip LC's funds, honestly. ]

No one from your company contacted me yet, so they probably went to my dad instead. Whatever they asked, I don't know of it.

[They tried to go with the cheapest ones too, limiting the rooms...Rip indeed.

Sinclair steps outside into the lobby garden, breathing in the fresh air. It was so peaceful now. It was hard to imagine anything...]

Mmm, I don't know either. It's all between Faust and the higher ups. Dante hasn't been allowed to know anything either. But everyone is still recovering. We had to go back to Kayser Corp to finish subduing everything. It's lucky their corporation was so far out on the outskirts.

Yeah. A real lucky break, huh?

[ There's a small hum while Oria thinks. ]

What do you actually use to fight those things anyway? I doubt shock batons are the limit.

Their skins. [There's no beating around the bush now] When they've been subdued, they'll usually shed a part of themselves that we can use in our clothing as armour or if we're lucky, a weapon. It takes some time before it stabilises but it's the only thing that works on the bigger ones. [He exhales softly, curling up on a bench]

My coat--you saw it, right? It managed to resist most of the damage from those claws because of how it's designed.

[Has Sinclair not been wearing it...well, he might have been more mangled afterwards]

I knew your coat was pretty special, but it really puts things into perspective. It's a little like what the talisman guys were using then, right?

[ Maybe a lot like them. ]

... Saying you wear a skin of a monster is pretty gross, not gonna lie. Just say that you craft the materials into something usable instead.

[ That surely takes away the grossness of the topic. Right? Right. ]

[Sinclair laughs, relaxing a little]

Yeah, it is gross, isn't it?

[Crafting it is. Well, it's not like they used it in its raw form anyway]

...hey, are you really okay?

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