Out of the frying pan

[techno_mancy]

The elevator whines as it slowly climbs back to the surface. The numbers over the door flicker on and off, floor by floor. Sera doesn't pay either of these things much mind, more busy with trying to stand upright. Her stomach has turned into a gaping hole, and she feels like she'll cave into it before much longer

Comments

[karma_slaves]

"They say there'll be food in the next couple of days. Heard there's a new source -- scouts probably found another pocket of refugees somewhere." The first voice echoes off of the smooth, white surfaces that assemble Karma City.

"It's always so long, though. And it's getting longer. W-what are we gonna do when--" It's impossible to ignore the ragged panic in the second voice.

"What you do is you're gonna stop whining about it! We're all in the same boat." The third voice cuts off the second.

The city is thickly silent around the exchanged words. The speakers have yet to come into view.

[techno_mancy]

One part of her says that she should try to avoid these people. Chances are they're some of Angel's, or some of Madam's. (A small part of her mind wonders briefly why she hasn't seen the other woman since being captured, but quickly discards it when she feels a sharp pang in her stomach.)
But at the same time, it feels disturbingly empty out here. Too much like the hallways she was wandering in for so long, and Sera finds herself stumbling towards the voices.

The buildings, streets and sidewalks remind her of other cities, and there's even some plants around, although they seem oddly neglected. Except for the glass dome overhead, it could be any other busy place.

...So then, why is it so quiet outside?

[karma_slaves]

The long shadows cast by the three Society guards come into view before their matches. The way they black silhouettes move tells a lot about each; the Panicker's shadow delineates a hunched, haggard posture. The other two seem more upright, but while one is more petite and feminine, the second clearly has the broader, angular build of a man.

When the trio come upon Sera, though, they all come up together as one jumbled mess of shadow stretched below their heavy boots. A pause, in which Sera should be able to appreciate the full weight of the silence . . . and then the fresh click of identical weapons being lifted to the ready.

At least one set of eyes lands on her fresh mark. "Freeze, Tuner!"

[techno_mancy]

The command comes so suddenly that she's shocked into actually obeying. Even though they'd do nothing against the bullets, her hands end up frozen in front of her body.
Her eyes, on the other hand, don't stay put. They keep darting between the weapons and trying to make out the faces behind the helmets.

She flinches a little at the word 'Tuner,' and she doesn't think she's imagining her new mark throb in response.

"D...Don't shoot, please." Sera ends up leaning against the wall she was walking next to. Her legs are shaking too much to hold her up.

"I-I don't want to cause any trouble." She ends up saying that loudly, hoping that thing stalking around in the back of her head hears her as well as the guards.

[karma_slaves]

There's another weighty pause before the female guard addresses her comrades in an incredulous whisper. "That's . . . that's her isn't it?"

"You mean the Cyber Shaman? I thought she was in custody . . ." The more capable of the men says.

"Did she escape?"

"Only one way to find out: Wilkes, radio central."

The Panicker, now identified as Wilkes produces a two-way and poses the question to the dispatcher.

"Kssht. She's not any use. Dispose of her as you will. Over. Click." The blunt response -- jarringly loud against all the clean, flat surfaces -- stirs an odd sensation in the guards. This is the Cyber Shaman, the one who was supposed to make it better, right? The one who would sing the magic song, like something out of a post-apocalyptic fairy tale. Now she has an Atma, even she's useless.

All three stand rooted, weapons still drawn, trying to mentally clamber over this revelation; after all that searching this girl is no longer some kind of messiah.

She's disposable.

[techno_mancy]

Really, Sera's reaction isn't much better once she hears the transmission. The Cyber Shaman goes from leaning against the wall to slowly sliding down it, staring in disbelief. Her mind can't really get around the fact that she's suddenly become useless, or that she's going to die shortly.

"N...no, wait...I..." Varnani senses the distress of it's host, and is starting to react. Her mark gives another pulse, glowing faintly for a moment before she claps her hands over it.

[karma_slaves]

The appearance of the tell-tale lines snap the guards back to themselves. That's a good a cue as any.

"I think this puts an end to our waiting, doesn't it?" The stronger of the two men mutters.

"Careful, though. We don't want to bring the rest running along, or that'll mean less for us." The woman snaps, a little harsher than the situation merits.

The only response is Wilkes snapping his fingers and hooking a thumb at a blocky-looking building. It looks sturdy enough, the walls thick enough to muffle the sound of their inevitable struggle. The other two seem to catch his drift, and they advance as one.

The heavier-built man makes a grab for her wrist, her hair, anything, while the other two stand at the ready to jam the butt of a weapon into her solar plexus, or cover her mouth of she screams.

[techno_mancy]

Her face is throbbing now, and the places where her fingers touch the mark are the worst; each one feels like a needle getting slowly pressed into her face. She doesn't take them away, though, and keeps her hands over her mark, trying to make it stop as she listens to the guards.

There's a moment of confusion when she hears them talk about waiting. And then, when the guards are within arm's length, it clicks. All she is now is meat; expendable food. That would be when the stronger one grabs a handful of her hair and yanks back.

It hurts as much as her face does, and her hands get torn away from her Atma, showing a tight network of lines crawling towards her eye. She starts to cry from both, and gets rewarded with a gun getting slammed into her lungs, and suddenly has a hand shoved over and into her mouth. Her head gets yanked on, and suddenly she's on her feet, body hurting and eyes stinging.

[karma_slaves]

A triumphant look gets passed around between the three. Too easy, it seems to say. At this close proximity, their respective marks become more apparent, glowing as they are. Neck, upper arm, and shoulder blade. Even with those marks that are covered, the light easily shines through the white fabric of the uniforms.

The soldiers' posture becomes more furtive. Wilkes stands aside, keeping lookout. Personnel tags on the remaining two identify the woman as "Clarke" and the man as "Thornton."

Clarke tugs off one of her white gloves and stuffs it neatly into Sera's mouth while Thornton keeps her arms securely pinned behind her back. He shoves her forward toward the building. If she tries anything stubborn, the other guards will be more than happy to pick up her feet.

Wilkes is already at the site of their impromptu picnic lunch. He's swung it open and he peers inside, making sure it's vacant. It's not like there's all that many left, though.

Coast thus cleared, he beckons his comrades over.

[techno_mancy]

Sera's eyes flicker over the name tags, before shutting tight; somehow knowing that these people have names makes her stomach lurch even more.

She's not even making an effort not to cry right now. She tries looking back towards where the Karma Tower is, wondering if it's even possible to run back into it. A yank at her arms is the only answer she gets to that, and keeps her stumbling forward.

"I'm going to die..." Keeps repeating in her mind, and leaves her shaking as she's shoved forwards.

Despite having a glove shoved into her mouth, Sera tries speaking. The muffled sounds that come out sound pleading and terrified, in equal turns. Her head pounds in time to her steps, and the closer she gets to the door, the more frantic her thoughts get. Three steps away from the threshold, and she gets desperate, trying to lunge and twist out of Thorton's grip.

[karma_slaves]

Her captor is taken by surprise at the sudden strength of her resistance, and his own hold gets twisted in such a way that it breaks long enough for her to get loose.

Clarke -- who was just stepping past Wilkes through the door, fairly content that Thornton could handle those last three steps -- spins at Sera's muffled complaints and Thornton's snarl of surprise.

"Hey, what're you--"

"Sonuva--"

BANG! Wilkes, in a moment of trigger-happy panic fires his rifle in Sera's direction. The sound is immediately everywhere at once and lingers long after in a fractured echo that seems to reach all the way to the facets of the dome.

[techno_mancy]

Something punches her in the shoulder, and leaves her staggering. It only lasts for a heartbeat, before that same spot explodes into full fledged pain. She'd be sobbing, if there wasn't still cloth shoved into her mouth, and she can feel something wet spread out from the spot. A moment later, she catches a whiff of something metallic, and realizes that she's bleeding.

Then the buildings lurch in her vision, and there's dust rubbing into her face, coating her throat. It digs into the left side of her face, and sends more lines shooting over her face. She looses sight in her eye as it gets swept over. The glove in her mouth gets shredded on her teeth, which have suddenly gotten much sharper.

She panics, thrashes on the ground and is left feeling like her arm is going to come off at the shoulder. Varnani ignores the Cyber Shaman's distress and resistance; the Asura is determined not to die today.

[karma_slaves]

Whether or not she's in any state to hear it, there's a long stream of expletives coming from her failed captors, mostly directed at Wilkes.

"Shit! Forget it, she's changing now."

"We can still take her out. It's three against one. Finish her off quick and we can still drag her off somewhere to feed before the others come."

The guards don't waste any time, and don't seem to experience any of the Embryon's discomfort when transforming. Three near-simultaneous flashes of light later and the three are replaced with a Gurr, a Pisaca, and a Rakshasa, all shuffling to form a slavering triangle around the Cyber Shaman.

[techno_mancy]

Her shoulder still hurts, but the gaping hole in it suddenly feels much smaller, like it's been filled in with more muscle. There's also something tough and bony stretching over what's left of the wound. It feels like the same stuff that's clawing out from her head and waist, and settling into folds on her arms.

Her hands are scrapping at the dirt, before they suddenly dig into the ground as the tips settle into claws. Then Varnani is pulling herself up, head darting back and forth as she picks out the other Tuners.

She doesn't waste time with growling or posturing, and leaps straight at the closest one.

[karma_slaves]

The Pisaca happens to be Varnani's first target, and its upper body bows and sags backwards under her pounce, lacking as it is in solid structure. The feet, however, remain firmly planted.

Reflexively, like a sea anemone, its massive mouth tries to gnash its teeth on whatever part of Varnani it can while arms claw for soft purchase.

Meanwhile, rather than throw themselves onto the dogpile, the Gurr and Rakshasa continue to circle. Notably, the Gurr is flapping its wings in time to a rising wind.

[techno_mancy]

Varnani tries to twist out and away from the Pisca's teeth...Which is easier said then actually done. They're on both of her sides, scraping against the bits of hardened bone that form her armor, and a few hit her skin.

The Asura slams her hand down on the other demon's head, to give her something to launch off of. Her other arm gives a click as one of the swords folds out, before laying flat against her arm like a fin. Then she's able to get her feet under her, and tries to leap off.

Somewhere along the way, she managed to sink her teeth into one of the eyestalks, and gives it a harsh yank as she jumps.