Event Private Blood and Salt

Polaris · Jun 4, 2017

June 5, 2017.

Amber couldn't be sure how long she had been in the underground facility. Without the sun and with no real sense of time, it could have been days or weeks.

All she could be sure of was the schedule of the testing. Everyone would be woken up to eat and some people would be dragged away to have tests run on them. Did this happen daily? Every other day? Again, it was hard to tell, but it happened regularly.

Now it was her turn. She had been teleported out of her cage, just like the others. Taken to a room with an operating table and a bunch of medical instruments.

Once the teleporting man left, Amber was alone with a strange figure that was arranging some of the equipment. There was no door in here.
The figure was totally naked, but also completely void of any features that would indicate sex. Like a mannequin, without even eye holes or a mouth. The only break in its skin were metal ports that connected to wires going into the ceiling.

"Please lie down on the examination table. Your test will go quickly if you cooperate. Failure to cooperate will result in your sedation for the duration of this test."
The voice was cold, methodical, and had the same synthesized quality as the voice that came over the speakers in the main holding room.

@Pallas @Kait

Pallas · Jun 4, 2017

"W-what? W-w-where am I-" stammered Amber as she suddenly appeared in the strange room but immediately went quite before the lone naked figure in the room.

It was a strange being... a living featureless doll is how she would best explain it. In between the cracks was some machinery driving the mannequin underneigh its "skin". Was this the one responsible for her kidnapping? Or... a proxy piloted by those responsible? Regardless, Amber was now in the situation that she had been dreading for what felt like an eternity: the test.

"W-who-" squeaked Amber before going quite as she collected her thoughts. "Who are y-you... and where am I. What do you w-want with me and... and... are you *gulps*... are you going to... h-hurt me?" resumed Amber, not sounding all that confident as she spoke. In fact, she was terrified on the inside but she just need answers...something that made her feel safe, even if she suspected no response or lies from her captor.

Polaris · Jun 4, 2017

The mannequin slumped a bit, its head tilting as if mimicking exasperation. Of course, the string of questions. The mannequin picked up a particularly sharp looking saw before gently putting it back in it's place.

"Your horns. You did not possess them prior to March of this year, yes? A vestige of your contraction of Popsiccus Incendium. A curious alteration of your body even after being cured."
There was venom in the last word the mannequin spoke, a very real and very obvious distaste. As if it we're angry that Amber had been cured at all.

"As for who I am and what I want with you. The first is unimportant. The second, I intend to find out precisely why you kept those horns."

The mannequin picked the saw up again and pointed it at Amber menacingly. "Now. There will be no further questions. Like down on the examination table, or the answer to your last question will be 'yes.'"

Pallas · Jun 5, 2017

Watching the thing pick of the saw with all six of her eyes made Amber feel queasy. She tried to shut out the thoughts of her being sawed in half for the sake of science... or torture. When the being informed amber of the reason why she was here in this room, Amber could not help but tilt her head. She was... surprised that it was her horns of all things that garnered so much interest from her captor.

"My... horns? T-thats why? Well... I guess it is a little wierd but... I'm glad I still had them after being sick. They... they make me look a little more like my mom Chloe." spoke Amber as she caress her her right horn on the side of her head, smiling for a moment before remembering where she was.

As the mannequin creature threatened her, Amber took a step back. Her heart was racing and she wanted to run but that would only make things worse. If what the mannequin person said was true... then she do what it said before it decided to bring any sort of harm to itself.

"Y-yeah! U-understood..." spoke Amber rather meekly as she hugged herself, clutching on her hospital gown as she stride over to the examination table as instructed. There was so many other questions that she had wanted to ask but... she knew it would be unwise given the situation she was in.

Polaris · Jun 5, 2017

Compliance. Good. Threats of physical violence held merit with the arachnid girl. She likely had little in the way of protection against mundane harm outside of her strange carapace.
Looking at the spider-like legs first, the mannequin began it's examination.

"Curious. The subject's circulatory system differs depending on which portion of the body one examines. The humanoid upper portion has blood vessels as expected, but the arachnid portion has an open circulatory system. Future tests will determine by what mechanism the blood travels from one system to the other."

Poked and prodded, samples taken of blood, skin, hair, and carapace. It was all so clinical, so impersonal. Grabbing Amber by one of her horns, the mannequin picked up the saw from earlier and tilted it's head. After taking off a significant amount of the horn, though not enough to cause permanent damage, this too was set aside.
"I wonder if it will grow back. It seems as though it is as real a part of you as any others, if your pain reactions are anything to go by."

Kait · Jun 5, 2017

"I think it's ready," Chloe announced.

Chloe hadn't quite finished moving into her new bedroom at Malara's home yet. A few bags and suitcases littered the bed, the edges of the room. The floor had been cleared to make way for a large piece of canvas. She had slaved over it for hours. On it was the ritual circle she would use to summon Amber.

Malara was at work. Pandora was out helping the search efforts - in her own way. They wanted to be present for this, but Chloe didn't want to wait. She wanted Amber home now.

Ozzy and Nona stood ready. This wasn't their first time helping Chloe with a summoning. They knew their roles. Ozerchabal was ready with his horn, prepared to fight back anything undesirable coming out of the ritual. Nona was ready with her healing magic. Dalia sat in the corner, looking bored. Or maybe she was more worried. Chloe insisted that Dalia never leave her sight while her parents were both away - people had been snatched up out of the school without anyone realizing it. They weren't going to lose another child.

As far as missing people went, Amber was lucky, Chloe thought. Her kidnapper was probably her grandfather, Mikhainon. He might have gone and claimed custody of her without asking anyone, but surely he would never harm Amber.

They could never be too careful, though.

She felt the silky white collar around her neck. A token from her new owner.

Wait.

Her stomach dropped. Every other time she had done a summoning like this, she had been leveraging her father's influence just a little bit. She couldn't do that this time. And she thought she had accounted for that, but was it really enough?

"Let me just... double check everything again."

If it went wrong, Amber could get hurt. Chloe would never be able to live with herself.

Pallas · Jun 5, 2017

Amber kept still throughout the examination as to not agitate her examiner any further. It was a surprisingly routine affair, as if she was getting a check-up from a grumpy doctor. At least until he began to take samples from her body. At little bit of skin, a few strands of hair, a vial of blood and a few chips off her carapace. Nothing more than a few painless pricks but it was enough to put Amber into some distress. Then came the horn removal, or at least a partial horn removal.

As much as she wished to pull herself away from the mannequin Amber dared not to show any sign of protest for fear of her life. Dispite the discomfort, Amber was surprised that she wasn't wriggling in pain as he sawed off a chuck on her horn as she expected it to hurt. Perhaps they had cut more to the base of the horn it would have hurt a lot more. As the thing spoke, Amber rubbed on the sawed off end of her horn, all she can think of was how stupid she was probably going to look with her lopsided horn even if such trival thoughts on appearances where grossly inappropriate. But... it wasn't just appearances that just upset her, it was the fact that she associated her horns with her mother that to have them damaged almost felt like a crime as it was one of the few features they shared together.

"I... I want to go home..." whimpered Amber quietly thought it was loud enough for the mannequin person to hear.

Polaris · Jun 5, 2017

The mannequin would have sneered if it could. A mighty demon, a child though it may be, crying and whimpering to go home. If he recalled correctly, she had cried for her mother's earlier. Pathetic. How easily these mighty beasts of magic were laid low by science.

"Impossible. You cannot return home. We have other tests to perform."
The mannequin said this as though it we're the most obvious, most natural thing in the world. As it did, it produced a key and unlocked the bracelet around Amber's wrist that kept her powers nullified.

Turning away from the spiderling, the mannequin began rummaging through it's table of tools, as if searching for something in particular.

Kait · Jun 5, 2017

And then, Amber fell. She wasn't on the examination table anymore. The mannequin was gone. The world around her was gone. It was empty, and she was falling.

When she landed on the canvas, it felt like jolting awake from a dream. She was upright now. The room would be blurry, she had to blink a few times. She would need a moment to get her bearings.

Chloe just stared at first, processing what she was seeing. She was back - Chloe might have been overjoyed. But she was hurt. Bloodied. Pieces of her were missing. Her heart sank. She felt sick. Did she mess up the ritual? And why in the hell was she wearing a patient's gown?

There wasn't time to think. She had to act. "Nona!" The water demon would wordlessly jump onto the canvas, kneeling down next to Amber, checking what was hurt and how badly. Her hands would melt over a wound, dripping onto it, knitting the flesh.

"Dalia! Get out your phone, call 9-1-1. Tell the operator we have a teleportation accident and we need an ambulance. Teleportation accident. Okay?"

She was shaking with adrenaline. With horror. The same thought kept running through her head. I just killed my own daughter. I should have double-checked the ritual. I just killed my Amber. I should have been more careful.

"Amber. You're home now. Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt? Honey?" She crawled over closer to Amber, but she didn't touch her. She didn't want to make her any worse.

The ritual did not harm Amber. She is exactly as healthy as she was when she left the examination table.

Kada · Jun 5, 2017

Dalia was worried sick. Amber, for reasons the two of them hadn't discussed yet, was incredibly angry at Dalia. Maybe even hated her.
And now, just when she was going to confront Amber. Apologize for whatever it was. Now someone had taken her sister. She might never get the chance to try and make things right.

She watched Chloe double and triple check the ritual. Again and again her aunt made sure she had done nothing wrong. The waiting was tense and made Dalia antsier than she might have been. She fidgeted with the book she had bought, some fantasy story she thought Amber might like.

There was a heavy feeling in the air as the ritual began. Dalia wasn't sure how it was making her feel, but part of her wanted to scream and pull her hair out. When Amber appeared before them, Dalia was elated. Her cheer quickly turned to horror however as she saw how injured her sister was.

Dalia nearly rushed to her side, but seeing Chloe spring into action stopped her. Call 9-1-1. Teleportation accident.
Dalia did as she was told, her mind barely registering as she did. She stammered out what Chloe told her to say, and it felt like forever until the dispatcher on the other side of the phone understood her.

Search

Event Private Blood and Salt

Polaris

For official threads only. Do not PM.

Pallas

Moderator

Polaris

For official threads only. Do not PM.

Pallas

Moderator

Polaris

For official threads only. Do not PM.

Kait

Gay Idiot

Pallas

Moderator

Polaris

For official threads only. Do not PM.

Kait

Gay Idiot

Kada

Comradmin