Play@YSDC

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:04 am**

Sarah feels herself floating in an incredible darkness. She feels nothing but warmth and sleepiness. Thoughts of Cael linger in her mind.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:10 am**

[OOC: I take it I'm no longer allowed to read Cael's thread?]

Sarah tries to look around, but the darkness is complete and she can see nothing. Her pain has ceased. Am I...dead? she wonders. "Cael?" she calls weakly. "Where are you? Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:12 am**

OOC: No, you can't read any other threads in Ash, currently.

Someone familiar sobs in the distance. Dahlia's voice speaks over it: "Oh dear... Please...it'll be alright. Don't be afraid. Are you afraid of this Cthulhu....dreaming?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:15 am**

"Dahlia!" calls Sarah, excited. "It's me, Sarah! Are you okay? I'm not afraid, not any more. Uh...what's a Cthulhu?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:17 am**

"What was down there, Sarah? Like how come you were all running? Was there something chasing you?" asks Dahlia.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:20 am**

"That's exactly what you said when we escaped from the hospital," says Sarah. "I told you before, I couldn't see what it was, but it just...slaughtered that constable. He never saw what hit him, never even had a chance. Oh, Dahlia, I love you so very much. So does Cael. We miss you terribly!"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:24 am**

"Umm..."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:29 am**

"Cael and I came back from the medical bay and you were gone," says Sarah. "We went with Morrison to try to find you, but then I got a call on my mobile from...myself, in the future. It was horrible! She...I...said not to trust Blackworth, that I made a mistake and everybody was dead and it was all my fault! Then I heard your voice for only a second. Cael and I were discussing what to do and how to find you when Morrison sealed us in the breakroom with a steel plate. But I found a way to escape! We crawled out through the vent shafts and made it back to my room, but my weapons were gone and you still weren't there. Then we met this older girl, Bree. Did you meet her?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:32 am**

"Should I stay here? And hide? But I thought...." Dahlia's voice trails off.

"Your theories intrigue me," says Blackworth, but his voice is different. It is him speaking, but it is also Sarah's voice, speaking simultaneously.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:41 am**

Sarah gasps, her fears returning. "Oh, no!" she wails. "Blackworth, please, don't! You're making a mistake! If you go through with what you're planning, we'll all die, even you! You can do whatever you want to me - I can't stop you - but I beg you, spare Dahlia and Cael..."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:45 am**

"I don't think you know who I am," says Blackworth/Sarah's voice, cackling cruelly. "I don't think you know what I have already done. The slaughter you saw in your dreams has already happened. It is already too late. I feel such pride in my own hands."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:49 am**

"NOOOO!!!" screams Sarah, her heart shattering into a million pieces. "Cael...Dahlia...I just met you...you can't be dead...it was all my fault..." She tries to face the entity taunting her, though in the eternal darkness she cannot be sure of its location. "Who are you? What are you?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:56 am**

"I think you already know, my dear," continues the voice. "I'll be with you, always. We will have plenty of time to get acquainted."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:07 am**

"First you say you don't think I know who you are," says Sarah, "then you say you think I do!" Whatever this thing is, it's far, far worse than Blackworth, she thinks. "You spoke with my voice. Did you send me that message?" Then what the being said earlier finally clicks with her, and it terrifies her anew. "What do you mean, you'll be with me always? Wh-what are you going to do to me?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:12 am**

"Idiot!" the voice that is both hers and Blackworth's snarls. "Don't you see? You sent that message to yourself. You must survive to send it again. I will be there, waiting, watching, I will be with you forever." Her own voice fades, leaving only Blackworths' to speak calmly. "And you thought Lyle was bad, I am far, far worse."

She sees his face then, a bullet hole between the eyes drooling blood across his nose and cheeks, down to his chin. He smiles, showing bloodied teeth. His hands are thrust deep into the pockets of the jacket of his three-piece suit, the grey vest and black jacket pierced by holes that reveal yet more torn flesh.

The two stand in the bedroom where Bree had burned her.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:18 am**

[OOC: Sarah was burned in the hallway, not in the bedroom.]

Sarah sobs uncontrollably, quivering in fright. There are worse things than rape, she realizes, and this thing is going to do all of them to me, forever! She backs up against the wall, trying to find that well of courage deep within her. "What happens if I refuse to send the message?" she asks.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:21 am**

Blackworth laughs and raises one hand, the two middle fingers are destroyed. Shot off, perhaps? "I think its a little too late for that." He sidles closer in a dancing little fashion. "Oh, I know what you're thinking." He giggles, then calms. "And I could! I'm entirely capable of everything you think I am." His laughter grows. "But that's only just, isn't it?" He steps back, raising his hands to the heavens. "And the seals shall break! And the minions of our terror will break free and all that is good and just in the world shall die in a hail of gunfire and smoke!" His laughter ascends, rolling and rising, and the room becomes so much colder.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:26 am**

"That's why you're doing this to me!" says Sarah. "It's because I'm good, because I care about people! You can't stand that, can you? You can't understand that! That's what intrigues you about me. The concept of kindness is alien to you. You already made it clear you're going to torture me for all eternity anyway, and I've got nothing left to lose. I won't send myself that message now, no matter what you do to me! If you hadn't shown yourself I probably would have, but now I won't and you can't make me!"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:31 am**

"Oh, you will send that message to save yourself from me," he says, moving towards her again, and his face melts to become hers and his voice changes to become hers. "Precisely because you are good and pure is why everyone will die. Time is fluid. Perhaps this time you can figure out a way of making the true message go through." Sarah's face giggles. "Perhaps this time you can keep your father's mind from shattering completely. They're all dead or soon to be and it's all because of me. And that's why you can't be rid of me."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:38 am**

"My father..." Sarah chokes out, tears flooding down her cheeks. "You never had a father, did you? Or a mother? Nobody ever taught you what love is." She takes a deep breath. "I don't hate you. I...feel sorry for you. 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.'" She reaches out and touches her doppleganger gently on the cheek.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:40 am**

"I had a father but you drove him mad," says the doppelganger, smiling sweetly at her and clutching her hands. "I had a mother but she left long ago. I was in love, but he drove me to kill him. I was safe, but I removed the walls. I had true love, but I drove him to kill them. What am I?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:45 am**

"I am Sarah Carpenter," she says, the answer to the riddle coming immediately to her mind. "You cannot break me, whatever you may do to me, however you may torture me. I will always hold love in my heart. I'm as incapable of hatred as you are of love. And maybe, just maybe, I'll break you down. Maybe you'll feel love and know what it is. Forever is a long time."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:57 am**

"Your paranoia is your blindness," the doppelganger says, becoming the ruined Blackworth once more. "And in that, your cruelty. Y'see, Cael will succeed in killing them all because of your hunches. The real question is, what the hell are they guilty of? Hmm? I mean, put yourself back as a t.v. viewer, watching a court case live from New York ... would you think they had enough evidence to hang?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:02 am**

"That's what I said to Cael," Sarah says. "We didn't have proof. I wanted to find more information. I tried to talk him out of killing. Now he's out there...without me to hold him back...If only I were still with him, I could convince him not to. He'd listen to me." She shakes her head, trying to stop the tears. "What have I done?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:05 am**

"You? Stop him?" Blackworth laughs. "You hardly put forward an argument to stop him. Oh, please, we'd better not kill anyone but I suppose if we have to... Would you like me to remind you what you exactly said to him? Just how much you qualified the 'don't kill' policy? I remember them word for word so don't hide behind your phoney words and don't give me your holier-than-thou act. You would have done nothing but egg him on. Admit it and accept it. I mean, just what would the extra evidence have been? Talk to the prisoners first? Oh yes, because they'd be credible witnesses, wouldn't they? Do you really think they wouldn't have lied to you? They would have said such horrible things ... such as how Blackworth drained the life out of your father and that's why he appears so much older."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:13 am**

"I can admit that I made a mistake," says Sarah. "What I meant was that if I were with Cael now, knowing what I know now, I could talk him out of killing. And I wouldn't have trusted the prisoners either, I said as much. What do you mean, my father appears older? I haven't seen him since this started. Where is he? When is he?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:15 am**

Blackworth strikes her across the face, the pain feels very real. "Murderess bitch!" he snarls. "Don't address me so calmly."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:20 am**

Sarah begins to cry again. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret having killed Lyle," she says, rubbing her sore cheek. "Should I have let him rape me, kill me instead? Who are you to pass judgment on me? You're reveling in mass slaughter! How should I address you then? Do you want me to cower in fear? Do you want me to get down on my knees, begging and pleading?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:22 am**

"I felt what you felt when Lyle's life blood spilled, I feel what you will feel for the deaths of all those around you. Including Bree, terrified, little Bree. Here, do you want a gift? Do you want to know Bree? Know her for who she was?"

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:29 am**

"Bree's dead?" asks Sarah. "Oh, no! Cael must have killed her first in revenge after she burned me. That poor girl was just a scared rabbit. Those burns and scars on her - they were from when she was learning to use her powers, weren't they? That's what's going on in this place! Blackworth's telepathy, too. They're researching and training psychic abilities. Tell me...about who Bree was."

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:35 am**

"That isn't where Bree was burned," says Blackworth, stepping closer and cupping Sarah's cheek with his hand.

Her mind is filled with visions of flame and agony. Something holds her in place. The windows are cracked. Upside down. Blood rushes to her face. The seat burns, burning her, she pulls away, cowers, tries to keep small. She is small. Her parents in front of her. Their seats burn. The woman screams and writhes. The man merely dangles, burning, charred flesh, charred flesh everywhere. Her hair, her skin. Then hands drawing her out, beating out the flame, the pain, everywhere pain.

Agony, terrible, whipping, the screeching of sirens. The ceiling roving past, moving in, a glimpse, a glance, Nurse Sarah, then passing onward, passing out.

Groggily, in Mercy Cross Hospital, staring up inside the Burn Ward. Doctors passing through.

Then running in darkness, a hand in a hand.

Then seeing a face, bizarre helmet, bizarre clothes. A woman beside a man, both bizarre. Running from a burned body that creeps and crawls.

And beyond that, in a little room, listening to the radio, reading a book that makes her skin crawl. The door opens, peering up, Blackworth entering, tired, injured. Blackworth angry, lectures on not reading the bad books, but someone had to, didn't they? Someone had to learn.

A dance party, everyone dressed in historical clothes, WW2 clothes, dancing around and around, and she dancing with Blackworth, then Jones, then others. Swinging around, her learning to dance, self-conscious about her scars.

Darkness, light, a blaze of fire, everywhere confused.

A hospital. Modern. Shaven heads. Experiments. Look left, look right.

Pain, panic, things attacking. The 'others' in the lab breaking free. Bree's friends coming, surrounding, overpowering and jailing the jailors.

Newcomers arriving. Anxiety. Hope. More friends? Another little girl. Curiosity. A dance interrupted to go down and visit, release her, have a look, but the girl went away and found somewhere else to play. Hearing noises, approaching, the two, the Jones-killer, the paranoid nurse, fear, panic. They would hurt her friends... Fear, panic, light, fire, death.

Brianna...

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:41 am**

Sarah weeps, feeling the girl's anguish, and this time she does drop to her knees. "Brianna!" she wails. "Oh, God...I remember her now. She was in the burn ward, but..wasn't she younger? My first instincts about her were right. She was abused and experimented on. If only I could have saved her..." She covers her face with her hands, her body wracked with sobs.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:44 am**

"Instead, your paranoia killed her," says Blackworth, almost kindly.

SAN check (1/1d4+1).

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:51 am**

[OOC: More crappy rolling! Yay! ]

Sarah's will is strong, and she might have been able to hold on before the events of this evening, but they had worn on her too much and she couldn't take this latest revelation. Her mind explodes with full awareness of what she has caused. "NOOO!!!" she screams again, her soul wrenched. "Brianna's dead, and it's all because of me! It's all my fault...it's all my fault...it's all my fault..." Sarah collapses in a heap, repeating the phrase like a mantra.

Posted: **Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:04 am**

She dials with numb fingers. "Hi, you have reached Nurse Sarah's answering machine. Please leave a message after the beep."

She weeps as her own voice finishes its statement. "I'm sorry, oh god I just shouldn't have! It was all wrong and now..." A chanting voice can be heard over the Intercom above Sarah's head. "...you're going to find me and it's all my fault, please, if anyone gets this message. Sarah, if you get this, please don't mistrust Blackworth. Now everyone's dead! I'm the only one..."

Sarah's phone dies. No battery.

And she realises whatshe has just done... The awful truth of it. She had taken a plea to trust as a demand for paranoia... And now, sanctuary was destroyed.

"Now do you see?" asks the persona. "Do you see who I am now? What I am? I am your guilt and paranoia made manifest. You have gifted me with agony. And I will be with you forever."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:12 am**

Nurse Sarah finds herself hunched over in the corner of the room, her burns screaming in pain, the computer monitor spewing static at her. It seems to be some sort of Windows Media Player program ... or something similar. Has the computer jacked into the security cameras? No, even those would go to a green screen, surely, not static.

Everything hurts, even breathing hurts, and she's not sure how long she's been sitting there. At least she's alone. Or so it seems.

OOC: Can you adjust your sanity for Sarah if you haven't already? Also, put her on 1 hit point.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:21 am**

[OOC: I already adjusted my Sanity when I lost it, and I just dropped her hit points to 1 now. Any bonus recovery for getting less than 1/5 of my First Aid skill? Also, is the most recent loss of 4 HP considered a separate injury that could also be treated with First Aid?]

The first thing Sarah notices is the pain. It hurts just to move, but she knows she must. She cannot summon the strength to stand up yet, but her medical kit is still on her hip. Moaning in agony, she gingerly reaches for it and begins to apply ointment to her burns and bandage her injuries. She does an excellent job, repairing some of the damage her body has suffered and binding up her wounds. The pain is lessened slightly, but is still present.

Once Sarah has recovered enough to stand, she grabs her things from the wardrobe and anything she has dropped on the floor. She stuffs her scrubs into the bundle. Maybe it's not too late! she thinks hopefully. She rushes out into the hallway.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:06 am**

What clothes she has worn has been badly scorched. The corridor outside is entirely dark. The light switch to her room does not bring on the lights. The only lighting comes from the static of the monitor but her eyes have already adjusted to the gloom and she can see that the corridor is empty, though there is dried blood where the child died. There is also a blood spatter by the wall and another small pool of blood and gristle - did another person die here? Blood droplets lead to one of the rooms.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:11 am**

Oh, God, what have I done? thinks Sarah, her eyes brimming with tears. I really don't want to see the bodies. Leaving her door open, she feels her way along the wall to the alarm that she and Cael had prevented Brianna from ringing and pulls it herself. Then she hurries back to her room to search for a torch. I'm going to need some light if I'm going to get anywhere. I have to get Cael to stop before he hurts anyone else.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:22 am**

She breaks the glass and pulls down the lever. Sound flares through the corridors. It seems to have sparked something, because the red glow of emergency lights come on. Why hadn't they come on before?

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:27 am**

The eerie red light is enough for Sarah to see by, and she runs down the hallway, retracing her steps to the security center she had visited earlier. She moves as if she were on fire, and in her burned lab technician's uniform she looked the part. If I can get to the intercom, she thinks, I can reach Cael! I saw him broadcast that message earlier, so I know how to do it.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:29 am**

The elevator doors slide smoothly open at her approach as though it had been waiting for her. Still a few dozen feet down the corridor, she can barely make out Blackworth in the gloom, moving into the elevator. He turns to regard her with a wry smile and waves, the fingers still torn off, his face still bloody. The persona? Then the doors close and the elevator rises up.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:35 am**

I'll never catch up with him that way, Sarah thinks, continuing her race towards the security center. Can't wait for the lift to go to another floor and come back. I've got to reach the intercom! She redoubles her efforts, running for all she's worth.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:53 am**

She passes a door marked Armoury and continues on her passage. The sign in the corridor points the way to the Security Centre, dangling from slender chains. Her breath comes out in a small cloud. She feels so cold, the movements tugging at her burned flesh causing her pain, whispers in the back of her mind beg her to stop and tend her wounds.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:04 am**

Sarah puts on the coat she'd grabbed from the wardrobe and zips it up as she runs. It's cold like in the hospital! she thinks. I've already treated my injuries quite well. I'm almost there. I can't spare the time to tend to them until after I've reached the intercom. She goes as fast as she can without risking reopening her wounds, following the signs to the Security Centre.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:11 am**

The door to the security centre is open. The monitors a warm glow within the dim interior. There is someone on the chair slouched over. Sarah can see her hand dangling over the chair's arm.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:13 am**

Sarah rushes over to the woman, examining her to see if she's hurt. "Do you need help?" she asks.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:44 am**

The stink of bleach burns her nose as she approaches. The chair holds a woman dressed in green scrubs, her face shattered, the lower jaw, the forehead and the cheekbones containing a mess of gristle that make her unidentifiable. Her hair has been drenched in bleach, shrivelled and white-blonde, the scalp bloody, the chair whitened. On one hand a finger has been broken to point toward one of the monitors on the basement floor.

Blackworth, uninjured though weary and limping, moves down a corridor, glancing briefly at the security camera as though sensing her, yet still he moves, hurrying along.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:54 am**

Sarah recoils at the sight of the dead woman who looks oddly like her and hastily grabs the microphone. She does what she had seen Cael do earlier to broadcast a message to the entire complex in the hopes that he would hear. A torrent of tears and words flows from her: "Cael, it's Sarah - stop what you're doing! I was so wrong...it was all my fault! I heard the message wrong because the static obscured it. Trust Blackworth and the soldiers! He's a good man, and he's my father's friend! My father is here, now! He's been here for years! He got sent back in time to World War Two somehow along with a girl named Brianna. Then they came forward in time to a few years ago, and they've been held in the DSTL all this time. Blackworth and the soldiers were from the past and came with them. That girl Bree, she was Brianna. What happened wasn't her fault, she was just frightened. It wasn't your fault either, it was mine. I got you all worked up with my fears...that poor girl...she suffered so much...please turn yourself in...stop killing...too many people have died already...I still love you..."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:07 am**

Sarah hears a chuckle from just behind her ear and warm breath blows her hair over her shoulder. "I can't heaaaar you," sings Cael softly behind her. As she turns, she sees him stretch languidly, apparently uninjured. "Besides, it's already too late."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:12 am**

Sarah spins around and draws back, looking at the security monitors for any sign of the real Cael or anyone else moving around. "So it was you who impersonated Dahlia on the message you made me record," she says. "It's not too late. Blackworth is still alive, and I'll make sure he stays that way."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:18 am**

"How will you stay a deaf man's hand?" asks the persona, scratching her beneath the chin as he might a cat.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:25 am**

"He's got other senses," says Sarah, scanning the security monitors. "He knows me and he loves me. I'll find a way."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:29 am**

"Y'know, if you're bored, we could have a brief twist in one of the beds. I mean, I'm you. I know exactly what you like beyond any man and I do feel very real," he said, giving her a lopsided grin.

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:32 am**

"That's not going to happen," says Sarah. She speaks into the microphone again: "If anyone is around out there, please report in. I need to find Cael. I'm the only one who can get him to stop."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:36 am**

"I over-ride that order, anyone who's anyone already knows where they should be headed," says Blackworth's voice over the intercom. "Dahlia and Mr. Carpenter will be accompanying you, most likely. Organized retreat. If you see a particular nurse and soldier, do shoot on sight. They are not, and I repeat, not to be trusted."

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:43 am**

"Daniel Blackworth, I'm trying to save your life!" Sarah shouts over the microphone. "And if you're talking about my father, that's Doctor Carpenter. Look, I don't believe for a second that that's really your voice. I know the real Daniel Blackworth is a kind man, a good man, and he would have known my father's proper title. If any of you soldiers can hear this, I'm not going to hurt anyone. I just want to help people. If you want to murder me in cold blood, you can find me at the Security Centre. I surrender. I'm not going to put up a fight. I know you lot did your bit in World War Two. You're heroes, all of you. You're not going to follow orders to murder a civilian prisoner, and Blackworth would never issue them. It goes against the Geneva Conventions and you bloody know it! If you still want to kill me...well, I probably deserve it, so get it over with!"

Posted: **Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:48 am**

"Hey, d'you reckon Cael did that?" the persona asks, pointing to the woman on the chair. "I mean, he did take a liking to you and he was insane ... like Lyle, maybe." His eyes twitched as he mentioned the man's name. "Wouldn't be all that hard to cave in a woman's face. Hell, do you think a rifle butt might do that? On her uniform, are those ... semen stains? He's killed a little girl, god knows how many others... Maybe that's what Dahlia sensed. Maybe she read Blackworth's mind while he was reading Cael's so she saw Cael's thoughts by mistake..."

The voice came back over the intercom. A soft, sad, lonely voice. "No one take revenge against the sad bitch, she's taken enough lives, leave her to her isolation. You know what to do."

Posted: **Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:31 am**

Sarah shivers when she looks at the dead woman who could easily have been her. "Whatever Cael has done," she says, "he couldn't have done this. Dahlia did probably read Blackworth's mind when he was reading Cael's, though." Even so, she thinks, whoever or whatever did it is still out there.

Shaking the thought from her mind, Sarah gets on the intercom again: "What do you want me to do, Blackworth? I know I can never make up for what I've caused, but I want to do whatever I can to help make things right. I want to do my bit too. All I've ever wanted to do is help people, but I've caused so much grief because I'm such a dumb blonde...I'll do any task you set me to, even at the cost of my own life. I can treat anyone who's wounded, and I can protect you from Cael. He's going to come after you, but if I'm there I can stop him and save your life. If only I hadn't received that distorted message from my future self telling me that everyone was going to die, none of this would have happened. I thought it was telling me not to trust you, but it really said the opposite. Sergeant Morrison locked us up without cause, and it seemed to confirm my worst fears. I should have stayed put, but you know what it's like to be unjustly imprisoned. I figured out how to escape, and Cael and I went back to the room you assigned us. I just wanted to find Dahlia and find out the truth about what was going on here in the hopes of saving everyone. I tried to talk him out of killing, but not hard enough. We were just about to leave when Brianna came in. I didn't recognize her because she was older, but when I introduced myself she said I wasn't supposed to be in my own room and screamed. I started to climb out through the vent shaft, but Cael chased after her into the hall when she ran away. She was scared of him because he killed Jones. I followed him and saw that he had grabbed her to stop her from sounding the alarm - the same alarm I just rang. I was so afraid if she alerted everyone we'd fail to prevent whatever was going to happen, but instead I caused it. I'm so ashamed...I started to help him try to gag her and tie her up...I tried to talk to her, to comfort her and help her to stop being afraid, but she was so scared of us...that's when she threw the fire at us, and I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I found out the truth. I swore I wouldn't record that fateful message, but...that thing tortured me...I tried to be strong, but I was too weak...

"You tried to warn me about Cael, and I did see the darkness in him. I didn't intend for us to fall in love, it just happened. I thought my love could overcome that darkness and heal him, but it only enraged him when I went down. Love isn't supposed to kill people..." She sniffles. "I know you must hate me, and that you'll never forgive me for causing this. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself. Please give me a chance to repair some of the damage I'm responsible for. If you look into my mind, you'll know I'm telling you the truth. Please let me prove myself to you. If you won't do it for me, or for yourself, do it for my father. He's sacrificed so much for all of us, and it doesn't have to be in vain."

Posted: **Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:57 am**

The intercom replies only with silence. The darkness of the camera sets stares at her starkly. She realises that the persona is gone, she is alone. Then a few of the cameras show her a lit floor - a series of cells and strange laboratory equipment. Something clutches at her heart as the camera turns and at first she doesn't realise why - then she sees it - the main doors to the corridor are open. Then the cameras show her another floor, this one built more like a prison than a laboratory, this one covered in gore and filth, torn uniforms and blood-smeared walls. The prisoners?

(1/1d4)

Posted: **Wed Nov 14, 2007 4:25 am**

Sarah gasps when she sees the blood and gore on the monitor. She's used to it to some degree from her work in Accident & Emergency, but this is beyond anything she's experienced. Still, she manages to keep a - mostly - clear mind.

If Cael sees this woman and I'm not here for any reason, she thinks, he'll assume she's me. Maybe she is me from the future. Maybe it's my fate to end up like this...violated, bludgeoned to death. Or maybe she's like that woman in the hospital who looiked like Jill but wasn't. Either way, I don't want to wear my scrubs again. Good thing I've got the clothes from my locker back in the hospital. Who or what could have done all this?

Sarah takes out a notebook and pen from her purse and quickly writes a note, keeping an eye on the monitors as she does so in case she sees anyone moving:
"Dear Cael,

The corpse in the chair in the Security Centre is NOT me! I'm still alive. Blackworth and the other soldiers are good guys! The soldiers have orders to shoot you on sight, so be careful, but please don't kill anyone else! The message I heard from my future self was partially obscured by static, and it really said 'don't mistrust Blackworth'! I misinterpreted it, and everything that's happened is my fault. Don't blame yourself for what you did because of my unwarranted fears. When I woke up, I learned the truth from an entity that says it's my fear and guilt made manifest, but it knew things I couldn't possibly know. It can look and sound like anyone, even me, but its actions and words are evil to the core. It forced me to record that message. I tried to resist, but it tortured me by showing me what Brianna went through, and I lost my mind for a bit. It follows me around, and it said it will be with me forever.

My father somehow went back in time to London during the Blitz, and so did a girl from the Children's Ward named Brianna. They then came forward in time to the recent past, a few years ago. Blackworth is his friend, and he and the other soldiers came from that era with them. They've been held here by the Government all this time, and only escaped tonight when this all started. My father is here, now! He's their 'field surgeon.' If only I had known, none of this would have happened. Bree was really Brianna, but I didn't recognize her since she's older. Her death is all my fault. I'm so sorry I failed. I don't know if you can ever forgive me for what I caused you to do, but my feelings for you haven't changed, God help me. We must find Dahlia and my father, as well as Aidan and Stephen if we can. Then maybe we can get to the helicopter and fly to that police station. I don't know what else to do, and Blackworth didn't reply to my offer to aid him in any way I could.

Love,
Sarah"

Posted: **Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:33 am**

Sarah's mobile phone vibrates, indicating an incoming call. The number displayed is her father's. When she answers it, she hears a metallic shriek that leaves her head aching.

OOC: Lionel can hear anything Sarah says, but not vice versa. Unless it was Sarah's, not Cael's, phone that was given to Dahlia, in which case she'll receive it.

Posted: **Sat Nov 17, 2007 7:33 am**

[OOC: Dahlia has Cael's phone; Sarah still has her own.]

Sarah answers her phone. "Daddy!" she says, filled with relief. "It's me, Sarah! Can you hear me? Hello?" She pauses, but there's no response. "I'm in the Security Centre, on the third floor. I'm not sure where you are, but I'll try to wait here for you. Only there's a dead woman here who looks a lot like me - but she's not! I'm alive. I'm hurt, but I'm okay. But we've got to stop Cael before he kills Blackworth, or all is lost! I'm the only one he'll listen to. Oh, God, this was all my fault...I'm so sorry...if I'd only known...it's only been hours for me since I've seen you, but you've been here for years...I can't imagine what you've been through, but we're going to make it through this together. I've got this...thing...stalking me. It's worse than Lyle. It says it's my fears and guilt made manifest, but it knows all sorts of things I couldn't know. It can look and sound like anyone, but I can tell by the way it acts that it isn't the real person. I'm going to be okay, though, now that you're here. I'm going to keep this line open so you can hear my voice."

While Sarah talks, she keeps watching the security monitors and writes a postscript on her note: "P.S.: If anyone else finds this, please make sure Cael reads it first thing, and make sure he understands that Blackworth is a good guy and the dead woman isn't me!" Then she transcribes a second copy of the note, identical to the first. When she finishes, she tears the copy out of the notebook and slides it under the corpse's hand so that it is held between the hand and the arm of the chair.

Posted: **Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:57 pm**

One of the monitors reveals Cael strutting across a corridor on this floor, clutching a blood-stained femur in one hand. He pauses at one sign, then whirls, seeing something she can't.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:32 am**

Sarah peers at the monitor closely, trying to make out the writing on the sign and see if that stretch of corridor looks familiar or if there's any way she can identify its location. If the writing is still too small, she looks to see if there's a zoom control.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:34 am**

She recognises the sign. It points toward the armoury and in another direction toward the Communications Area where she's sitting. Unfortunately, in this rabbit warren of a facility, it'd be hard to work her way there.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:39 am**

Sarah watches Cael on the monitor to see which way he goes. She tries the intercom again, turning up the volume in the hopes that he can hear her this time. "Cael, it's Sarah again," she says. "I'm in the Security Centre. I can see you on the monitor and it looks like you're not too far away. I'll wait for you here if I can; just follow the signs. Talk to me first before you do anything, and whatever you do, don't hurt anyone else!"

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:44 am**

"Why, Sarah?" asked a familiar voice. Her mother's voice. She stands by the door, dressed in familiar clothes, standing just as she did before. There is no element of how she speaks or acts that is not identical to Sarah's faded memories. "Why always the dangerous men? You see him walking with a blood-stained bone and you tell him where you are? How can your heart leap for such a man?"

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:13 am**

Sarah gasps at the sudden appearance of her long dead mother. "Mum?" she asks, her jaw dropping. "Is it- is it really you?" She hangs her head, tears in her eyes. "I don't know why I fell for Cael, or for Lyle. Maybe it's because they fell for me first. It...it feels good to be loved. Dad's parents were dangerous too, you know, but they'd never have hurt any of us. I can't believe Cael would ever harm me. He's not like Lyle. I don't know if he'll even want me any more once he finds out this is all my fault, but I have to try to save both him and Blackworth. I know I can get Cael to stop this madness if only I can reach him. Otherwise, one of them will kill the other. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, mum. I tried...I tried so hard...I did everything I could think of..."

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:23 am**

Her mother moves up beside her to point to one of the monitors. There is a moment of static and then one of the rooms is displayed. A mound of bodies, soldiers all, have been piled up, including Morrison. Through the gaping hole in Morrison's ribs, a glowing sigil can be seen.

"Sarah?" a voice behind her, a little too loud. It sounds and looks like Cael.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:30 am**

Sarah sighs with relief when she sees Cael and smiles wide. "Cael!" she says, rushing over to him with her notebook in her hand open to the original note she had written. "READ THIS!" she shouts while mouthing the words slowly and pointing at the note with her finger and holding it in front of his face. Then she puts it in his hands. Suddenly, she realizes that he has a gaping wound in his throat. "Oh, God, you've been shot!" She opens up her medical kit and treats his wound while waiting for him to read the note, with moderate success.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:54 am**

Cael weakly smiles, drops the femur and falls to his knees, he's so grateful to see her alive and moving he weeps at her feet for a moment. He then tries to focus his eyes but he can't, "You'll have to read it to me love, I'm pretty much blind and deaf at the moment, so you might have to shout as well."

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:01 am**

Sarah can't stop her tears either. Just when I thought I'd got through to him, she thinks, and he can't even read my note or hear me read it! But he must be able to see to some extent, or he'd never have made it here. Undaunted, she turns the notebook to a blank page and writes in huge letters that barely fit on it: "BLACKWORTH IS GOOD". She holds it up in front of his face in the hopes that he can read it and shouts the words at him. Then she turns to a new page and writes "I WAS WRONG" on it as large as possible, again showing him and shouting the words. Please understand me!

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:17 am**

"If you say it then I believe you. I was actually trying to find Blackworth, not to kill him but for him to kill me. I figured that somehow I knew my death would make things right, maybe still will." Cael said hoarsely, now that the adrenaline was subsiding, he began to feel the pain that wracked through his body. "I love you Sarah, that'll never change."

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:19 am**

The wound, a bullet hole that entered through the back of his mouth and exited the skull, will require more than bandages and stitches, but she manages to make do.

OOC: I know, I know, the CoC rules make no distinction for what the injury is - so don't mind my cosmetic distinction, won't have any in-game effect, but I'd appreciate some surgery later on if you survive long enough, to properly patch him up, for reality's sake.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:34 am**

[OOC: Sarah has every intention of performing surgery on Cael later if they both survive. Until then, she'll have to Make Do and Mend. She can also perform First Aid to treat his burn injury, which he never healed. Got an extreme success, so no need to roll for healing since it's 2d3 and that injury was only 2 damage. He's now recovered 4 of his lost HP.]

Sarah smiles, her eyes sparkling and tears rolling down her cheeks. I did it! she thinks, hugging Cael gently. I finally reached him! I've saved them both! I'm not useless after all!. "I love you too!" she cries, pointing at herself, then putting a hand on her heart, then pointing at Cael. She doesn't know sign language, and neither does he as far as she knows, but the meaning is obvious to anyone. She turns to a fresh page in her notebook. "ASK ME YES/NO QUESTIONS" she writes on it, shouting the words when she shows it to him. "NUMERICAL ANSWERS WORK TOO" she writes and shouts next. She demonstrates by nodding her head yes, shaking it no, and then showing him one, two, and then three fingers. Then she notices that his burns have not been treated. While she has her medical kit out, she does a masterful job of applying ointment and bandages.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:42 am**

Cael smiles at her through the pain, "Sweetheart, I'm somewhat blind but not really horribly, I guess now everything is really fuzzy, my hearing is just a loud buzz right now. I don't know what happened but I was talking to these two blokes and next thing I knew I was flanked on both sides. I was going to let them take me but I wasn't about to relinquish my weapon, in what I thought was a suicidal move, I shoot Morrison but before they could shoot me, the lights went out. I hot the deck and crawled into a room. Someone threw a flashbang in and I tried to get it but it blew in my face. Thinking I was a deadman, I tried to blow my brains across the room but apparently failed. I figured this was all just in my head, I guess not."

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 2:52 pm**

Sarah shakes her head sadly when Cael tells her of the shootout and his attempted suicide. "I'm so glad you survived!" she shouts. "It was my fault, not yours!" She loudly explains to him that this must have been caused by him killing Morrison and leads him to the bank of security monitors, where she shows him the pile of bodies with Morrison on the top. She points out the glowing sigil in his chest. "That must have been part of the 'defenses' this place has that he was talking about! I think Blackworth has one too!" She tries to identify the location of the mound of corpses based on the surroundings visible on the monitor while she painstakingly explains the rest of her note's contents to him while keeping her voice raised: how her father and Brianna had gone back in time and then returned to the recent past, only to be imprisoned in the DSTL, how Blackworth and the other soldiers had come with them from that time, that her father was here and hopefully on his way to the Security Centre after having called her, about the apparation of her mother, and about the being that had tormented her and forced her to record that distorted message for herself. "It can look like Blackworth too, but it's always badly injured when it does! The real Blackworth was unhurt when I saw him on the monitor!"

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:14 pm**

Cael nodded, "That's some story sweetheart, I saw Blackworth just before I came in here, however he was missing two fingers and moved faster than any human could." He went to rub his neck and accidentally rubbed the wound, stifling a scream by biting his knuckle he rubbed his chin instead. "So what's our next move Princess? If no one where is a bad guy but a ghost then I say we're in trouble unless we can somehow call the Ghostbusters and get them across the pond."

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:44 pm**

"That's exactly what it looked like when it impersonated Blackworth," says Sarah, loud enough for Cael to hear, "but it's no ghost. It can touch me...and it can hurt me, physically. I wonder if it's been stalking me ever since this started. It couldn't get me in here before Morrison died, so that's why it made me send that message back in time and obscured a key part of it. It tricked me into causing all this. We need to wait here for my father to show up. He called me earlier, but I couldn't hear his voice, just a metallic screech. He may have heard me, though, and I told him where I am." While she explains things, she strips off her burnt lab technician's uniform and redresses her injuries. "Oh!" She notices that Cael had given her his weapons and dog tags while she was asleep. She gently puts the dog tags back around his neck. "You should probably have your gun and knife back too, but promise me you won't use them to hurt other people. Our real enemies aren't human. I've still got the other knife and my pepper spray." She takes out the clothes she had salvaged from her locker in the hospital: a black skirt and a turquoise off-the-shoulder top. She puts them on and then her coat on top of them. Then she takes the belt with her sheathed combat knife and wears it around her waist outside her coat, clipping her pepper spray and mobile phone to it as well.

Posted: **Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:53 pm**

Cael takes the gun and knife back, "I'm to tired to fight these guys here and if there's a bigger bad guy waiting at the end of this level I need to conserve my energy for the final showdown." He stops Sarah putting his dogtags back on him, "Keep them, you would honor me if you held onto them. One day, many many years from now you can tell your grandchildren about the man who loved you so much he died trying to protect you."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:31 am**

"What?!" gasps Sarah. "No, I won't let you die! I didn't go to all this trouble to save you just to lose you now. One day, many many years from now we'll both tell our grandchildren how you protected me and lived to tell the tale."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:48 am**

Cael just smiled back, he liked that idea very much but was seriously doubting that it would become true. He took her hand and dropped the tags onto her palm and closed her fingers around them. "Then keep them safe, they're the post precious thing I own anymore." He said as he kissed her on the cheek.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:56 am**

Sarah nods, trying to stop from crying, and puts the dog tags back around her neck. "I'm so sorry I ruined everything for us here," she says. "We were safe here, and I was happy for the first time in ages...if only I hadn't been so stupid...all their blood is on my hands...poor Brianna...she suffered so much...I saw the whole thing through her eyes..." She puts her arms around Cael and weeps onto his shoulder.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:08 am**

"Hell Sarah, first thing you need to do is stop blaming yourself. Shit happens, bad shit happens and sometimes all we can do is make the best call we can with what information we have. Under the circumstances I believe you did just that, not once was your motives about selfishness but about the welfare for those around you. Believe me when I say I've seen some shit in my life that'd make you cry, things that would make you loose your lunch and things that would enrage you beyond belief. This here... it was nothing. Yes our level of danger has gone up but you know... if Blackworth had been honest and forthright with us from the start and hadn't played the Mr. Creepy role, it would have been different from the start. Sealing us in the breakroom was not a sign of goodwill either." Cael stopped for a moment to catch his breath, the throbbing in his neck was really starting to hurt but he wasn't done.

"All in all you did the best you could with what you had and there isn't anything anyone can say different about that. To me you are the most important person in my life but I've seen people bigger than you on world wide scales mess up a hundred times worse than you did, loosing countless lives in the process and yet they showed no remorse. Sarah my love, you are only human." Cael finished then began looking for some water.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:25 am**

"You're right," says Sarah with a sigh. "Thank you, Cael. It'll always haunt me, but while I can't change the past, I can still change the future. I've got to do better from here on. I wish Blackworth had told us the truth from the get go. He wouldn't even admit he could read my mind when I caught him at it. If I'd only known where they'd come from, and that my father was here all along...but I can't really blame them either for not trusting us." She dries her eyes. "Oh, you must be thirsty! I wouldn't drink any unsealed water around here at this point. It could be like in the hospital. Carson accidentally got some in his mouth and turned into a zombie. I've still got some sealed containers of water in my bundle, though." She takes two of them out and gives one to Cael. "I'll keep my eyes on the monitors for any sign of my father. Once we're reunited with him, we need to find Dahlia. We may also need to get that weird glowing thing Morrison had in him. Maybe there's some way to make it work again." She points it out on the monitor. "Any idea where in this place that is?"

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:34 am**

"Cael opened up the water bottle and before he could take a drink stopped, "Weird glowy thing, I have a feeling we're going to need that. Maybe there's a chance you can call on the intercom for someone in that area to bring it to us, I have a feeling that I should probably wait here to meet my future father-in-law." Cael said with a wink. "If they still consider me a threat I probably won't last long out there." He took a drink of water and started to cough and sputter from it, taking several deep breaths he calmed himself and sat on the floor, he felt almost helpless and he hated that feeling.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:43 am**

"Oh, good thinking!" says Sarah. "I'm not sure what to do with that thing, but maybe Blackworth would know since he probably has one too. I doubt anyone's going to come bring it to us, and it looks like almost every soldier in this place must be in that mound of bodies, but if we can tell him about it he can have someone collect it." She keys the microphone. "I explained the truth to Cael, and he understands now. He's not a threat to any of you lot, and he won't hurt you, so please don't hurt him. Blackworth, it might help you to know that I saw a huge pile of bodies stacked up on one of the monitors. Sergeant Morrison's was on top, and I could see a strange glowing sigil inside him. I believe it's important, and someone ought to collect it. I'm trying to work out where exactly he's located. I know you didn't want or ask for my help earlier when I offered, but I've got to do what I can."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 1:52 am**

"He's outside the medical bay, in fact two people we're working on Doskins while everything went down. I'm not sure what they were doing to her, I think they said an autopsy."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:07 am**

"That's right!" says Sarah. "Professor Sharadon said she was going to conduct an autopsy on her, but why didn't they bring me in to assist? If only I'd known my father was really the 'field surgeon' I'd have asked for him to try to save Doskins. He could have done it, too. Are you sure nobody moved the bodies somewhere else, Cael? They look like they've been piled up."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:25 am**

"I don't know, the whole thing went down right there. I fired into Morrison expecting to get ripped apart in a hail of bullets but instead the lights went out and I hit the deck, guns shots started to fly as they apparently shot each other in a crossfire..." Cael couldn't help but smirk at that, if nothing else from a tactical stand point, never have two friendly sides standing in opposition of each other.

"Anyway, that's when I crawled out of the way. When I emerged from the room I saw the walls awash in smears of blood and lumps of gristle. Chunks of flesh were squirting blood underfoot but I didn't see any bodies... I don't know where they're at. In fact someone had thrown that flashbang in there once the shooting stopped, someone wanted me down but not out. WTF Sarah, WTF?" Cael went to rub his neck again but caught himself before he did and rubbed his chin in thought, he realized now that he had to grow a beard.

"Sarah, would you still love me if I was a bearded zombie? I mean you could chain me up in the shed like in Shaun of the Dead." Cael stated in a half serious tone.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:36 am**

"Of course I'd still love you," says Sarah, "and I'd feed you fresh brains every day. If the bodies weren't there when you left the medical bay, then they probably were moved someplace else, but it couldn't have been far and they'd have left a trail of blood and gore. See if you recognize the location on the monitor. The soldiers were trying to incapacitate you, Cael, not kill you. Like I said, they're good folks. That's why they used a flashbang."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:44 am**

"I disagree about the 'good folks' comment, they sure as hell fubared the entire situation with me. All I knew was I was being treated as a hostile, according to Sergeant Blaise the bitch basically had said you were under guard that if she didn't report back would kill you and if I shoot Morrison no one would be available to patch you up. That is not good folks Sarah, they've lied to us from the start and I still don't trust them but I trust you so therefore my weapon remains holstered." Cael stated and then added, "Good to know about the zombie thing though." He chuckled.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:10 am**

"They were just doing the best the could with what they had, same as I was," says Sarah. "Anna was bluffing. They never had me in custody, and they wouldn't have just let me die if they had, but you couldn't have known that. They were trying to get you to surrender your weapon so you wouldn't kill anyone else. You don't know what these people have been through, Cael. First they gave their all trying to protect London in the war, and then they were ripped from their own time and imprisoned here unjustly for years, along with my father and-" She sniffles, "and Brianna. They only won their freedom tonight, when the world as we know it came to an end. They took as many of their jailers alive as they could and locked them up, when they could easily have taken revenge. On one of the other monitors it appears something has slaughtered the prisoners anyway. They've learned a bit about our time in the last few years, but they're even more out of their depth than we are. You don't trust them, and they don't trust you, but we all have to put that aside and work together if we're going to survive."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:35 am**

One of the monitors show a small room. The little text in the bottom right corner says its Basement Level 2. The elevator doors open and Dahlia and Lionel Carpenter can be seen. Then the monitors flicker, and all turns to static.

As to the pile of bodies, they appeared to be in some sort of store room. Shelving contained many bottles of various sorts. Medical? Chemical? Some sort of laboratory store room? Or perhaps a food store. It's hard to be certain in the gloom.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:52 am**

Sarah turns to look at the space just above the security desk, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "I know I can never make up for what I've caused," she says, "but I'll show you! I'll make a new safe haven, even if it costs me my life." She blinks back her tears and looks at the monitors again. "It's Daddy, and he's got Dahlia with him!" She grabs the mircophone and speaks into it again. "Daddy, Dahlia, it's Sarah! I just saw you briefly on one of the monitors in the Security Centre, on the third floor. Morrison and the other dead soldiers look like they've been moved to a storeroom of some kind. Maybe it was the one in the medical bay, but it could have been food storage. The medical storeroom would have been closer, though."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:26 am**

Cael scoffs at what the soldiers have been through... fuck them. He'd been through hell himself and he was still being rational and calm, he wasn't lying to people he ran across, fuck them.

Cael stood up and walked out into the hall, store rooms were in the basement usually. He had a brief thought of heading there and stopped a few steps towards the stairwell. He was pissed and wanted to get away but instead he turned and looked at Sarah, it was obvious he was angry, "So killing people here was all my damn fault? I'm the one to blame because they had it so rough? You know what? So did I, I'd trade places with anyone of those fucks in a heartbeat, especially if you throw in what happened to me in Russia. They were soldiers and god dammit I tried like hell to settle things peacefully. I could have taken everyone of them out had I wanted to but I strolled right up and waited when I knew they were closing in but bullshit Sarah, those bastards would have shot me dead, I know soldiers! I was the hunted! I was the enemy! If Blackworth is such a fucking hero, where is he now?"

Knowing he had said some angry things he punched the wall and stormed off down the hall, far enough where he could grumble and bitch to himself but not far enough where he couldn't cover the door and protect Sarah if need be. He knew his conduct was unbecoming a soldier and knew he needed to suck it up and man up but suddenly everything that happened here felt like it was his fault.

He drew the combat knife and stared at it a bit, he studied the Samurai way and knew his honor was failing, if things kept sliding it would be time to commit seppuku... who would behead him? Sarah? No certainly not. Blackworth! That'd be the bastard who would do it. He sheathed his knife and sat on the floor in the hallway, his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs, he drew his pistol and held it, waiting.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:03 am**

"Cael, wait!" calls Sarah, rushing out to join him. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean...look, it was my fault they all died, not yours. I'm the one who misinterpreted my message from the future, I'm the one who told you and got you all worked up, I'm the one who busted us out of the breakroom, and I'm the one who was too weak to resist the torture and recorded the message in the first place." She sits beside him and holds his hands. "You didn't know what would happen when you killed Morrison, because they never told us. I don't know where Blackworth is or what he's doing, but I don't believe he's cowering in a corner or anything. I know you've been through worse than they have, but they didn't know that either. My point is that we're all on the same side here, and I don't want anyone else to die...especially not you. If anything happens to you, who will protect me and Dahlia?"

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:12 am**

A huge smile spreads over Cael's face and he slips his arm over Sarah's shoulder and pulls her in close, resting his temple against hers, he then kisses her gently on the lips and says, "I'm never going to be able to stay mad at you am I? You have an unfair advantage of being the woman who ninja'd my heart and well... just can't do it. Then again I wasn't mad at you, our situation is what I'm mad at, getting in the way of the rest of our lives it is." Cael sighed and held her for a moment and said, "Really it's no one's fault and everyone's fault. The guy I blame really is that Dr. Carpenter, what a jerk!" Cael said with a playful grin.

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:21 am**

Sarah giggles. "Watch it," she says. "You're going to have to be on your best behavior if you're going to make a good impression on my father. I don't know how much he knows about what happened, but you may be going in with two strikes against you. I'll try to run interference for you, but he doesn't always approve of my boyfriends. Of course, last time he was right and I was wrong...We're getting off track here. As I said, our real enemy isn't even human. It's that...being that manipulated me that caused all this. It was just sitting on the security desk a minute ago, in its Blackworth disguise. but I guess you didn't see it this time. It keeps trying to make me feel guilty about what I've done and afraid of what might happen to me. I'm not afraid any more; I've already suffered something far worse than anything I could imagine, so nothing else can really come close. But it's going to be a real struggle trying to overcome my guilt. Come on, let's get back into the Security Centre."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:28 am**

Cael stood and helped Sarah up, "I've been in tighter spots before, 2 strikes, bottom of the ninth with 2 outs and the game resting on my shoulders. Then I shot the guy and go home... so ok, you got me then. This is the tightest spot I've ever been in before." Cael laughs as he holds Sarah's hand and walks her back. "Besides, how could he hate me? A man whose dedicated his life to protecting and loving his daughter and the little girl they both fell in love with... What's not to love?" Cael stated with a boyish grin and then added in a sheepish tone, "He just doesn't like the things that he knows this guy wants to do with his daughter but that's love... no?"

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:41 pm**

Sarah sighs. "I wish that were all there was to it," she says, "but he's not going to be too happy with you since you've killed his friends and fellow captives. Especially Brianna. I saw the whole thing through her eyes. He adored that poor girl almost as much as he does me. Still, there's hope. It was really my fault, and he's not going to stop loving me for that. If he gives me a pass, he's got to give you one too, but he's going to have to get to know you as well as I do before he understands." She walks back to the security desk with Cael. "All the monitors went to static. We've got to see what's going on around here." She goes over to the microphone and speaks into it again: "Daddy, I can't see anything on the monitors any more, but the last I saw you were on Basement Level 2. That's the prison level, and I saw what looked like all the prisoners slaughtered on another screen. Whatever did that might still be around, so please be careful. I love you and Dahlia so much. I can't wait to see you again. Daniel Blackworth, if you can hear me, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I wish I could bring those dead people back. I can't, but I'll do what I can to help you and the other survivors, and so will Cael now." She gave him a look that seemed to say you'd better in a lighthearted way. "I'll help you whether you want me to or not, but I can help you a lot better if I know what needs to be done."

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:49 pm**

"Yeah well... this whole situation should have been handled better... where the hell is Adrian and Shaun then? They came here with us, these guys kill them?" Cael realized, of course he'd help Sarah do what needed to be done. He didn't care if her father hated him for this or not, he knew he was a soldier and he'd been turned in the 'on' position... enough said. "Well if your father hates me, he can stand in line. There's a lot of people outside these walls that would love to hear that I'm dead. My grandparents would probably be first in that line."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:40 am**

"I'm sorry," says Sarah, hanging her head. "You mean Aidan and Stephen, right? I was wondering where they got off to myself. The soldiers didn't kill them - most of them were killed too, along with the prisoners. It's those monsters, I think. They were able to get in because Morrison died. One of them might have killed this lady too. She looks like she could have been me. Same build, same green scrubs and blonde hair. She's been beaten over the head repeatedly and doused in bleach and...she may have been sexually assaulted too. I don't really want to take a close enough look to know for sure, though. If she was, I hope it was post-mortem. Maybe...maybe she's me from the future, but she could be something like that woman I saw in the hospital that I thought was Jill but wasn't. Look, whatever happens, I'll always love you. Nothing can change that. Is there anything you can do to get these security monitors working again?"

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:51 am**

Cael looked to the dead woman to Sarah and back again. He then picked up the woman and laid her in a corner. Taking Sarah's discarded lab coat he throws it over her and makes the sign of the cross, Sarah was right, the resemblance was uncanny and if he saw her first he probably would have been walking down the halls killing everyone in his path. For the first time ever, Cael hated what he was, he suddenly felt like a mindless killing machine, a Great White shark of the land. He looked at the monitors and said, "I'll give it a whirl."

OOC: Electronics Repair 35% (1d100=58%)

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:55 am**

Cael finds most of the electronics rather out of his league but from even a cursory inspection it doesn't appear that anything's damaged the wiring. Nothing out of place, nothing blackened. Perhaps the problem is with the cameras.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:08 am**

Cael gave a look of disappointment, "From what I can telleverything is fine on this end, could be the cameras got smashed, cables unplugged or a supernatural thing. I'm betting on the supernatural, you ever noticed no one ever gets clear shots of anything like ghosts or the Lochness Monster or UFOs, everything is grainy and out of focus. So up, it's busted because of supernatural reasons... Please Stand By." Cael snickered.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:11 am**

"We saw that glowing thing just fine on the monitor," says Sarah, "but yeah, I get what you're saying. I just hope my father and Dahlia get here soon."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:14 am**

"Yeah me too, the anticipation is killing me." Cael said with a smile. He then moved over to the dead woman and before he uncovered her said, "Sarah do you have any tattoos or birthmarks or big scars?"

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:23 am**

"No," says Sarah, "but I know what you're getting at. I don't think I want to know if that's really me. Even if it's a fake me, it might look exactly the same down to the last detail."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:26 am**

Cael looked up at Sarah, "I never said I was going to tell you, that would be a horrible idea but anyway..." Cael stood up and began to pace the room, if he was moving he wasn't thinking about pain, if he sat still it was almost overwhelming.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:36 am**

Sarah walks hand-in-hand with Cael, helping him walk off the pain. "We're going to survive this," says Sarah. "All of us: you, me, Dahlia, and my father. Blackworth too, if I have anything to say about it. We have to protect him, or what happened when Morrison died will look like a picnic by comparison. Please don't even think about trying to kill yourself again. I need you, we all need you. I'll see you through this, and I can help you make peace with yourself and everything you've been through."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:45 am**

Cael smiled warmly at Sarah, "The only way I'm going to die is if it's a sacrifice, my life for yours or Dahlia's. That's the only way I plan on going out, I've got to much going for me now, the love of a beautiful woman, the outlook of a future and so much more. I'll not be easy to take out into the gentle night."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:51 am**

"That makes me glad," says Sarah, planting a kiss on his lips. "There will be a future. We'll find a way. We've got to." Am I trying to convince him, or myself? she wonders.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:56 am**

'Is she trying to convince me or herself?' Cael thought to himself as their lips parted. "Well that's another way we can take my mind of the pain. We could always just stand here and just make out." He said with a large grin, half hopeful, half joking.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:04 am**

"As much as I want to," says Sarah, "that will probably distract both of us too much. Now that the cameras are down, we have no idea what's happening around us and we can't afford to drop our guard. We need to stay alert, and keep our eyes and ears peeled."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:10 am**

"I know the game, I was uh... joking, yes! Absolutely!" Cael sighed and stepped out into the hall, with the cameras down they were blind and being holed up in just the room was a bad idea, at least from the hallway they had a better vantage point. "Are the cell phones dead too? Remember that Dahlia has my phone."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:17 am**

"Oh, that's right!" says Sarah. "Dad called me earlier, but I couldn't hear his voice, only that screeching sound. I couldn't get through to Dahlia before we got locked up, but I might as well try again now. They can probably hear us on the intercom, but it would be nice to hear them too." She dials Cael's number.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:27 am**

As Sarah dials his number, Cael starts to sing a song quietly to himself, he's loud enough that Sarah can hear if she was close by:

"You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

Pardon the way that I stare.
There's nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it's real.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay.."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:37 am**

Sarah's eyes start to water as she hears Cael's song. She puts her free hand on her heart in a vain effort to slow its rapid beating. "That was so beautiful," she says when he finishes, sniffling. "Nobody's ever serenaded me like that before."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 4:45 am**

"Well it says how I feel perfectly, those old cats like Frankie Valli, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Louis Armstrong and so many others really knew their stuff. I know a lot of different songs like that and will serenade you until the day I die." Cael stated and then he took Sarah into his arms and kissed her passionately.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:31 am**

Sarah returns Cael's embrace while she waits for Dahlia to answer the phone, lost in the moment. "I wish I could sing like that," she says. "Oh, but I can dance! I love dancing, and I'm rather good at it if I do say so myself." She puts her free hand on his shoulder and begins a slow, romantic dance.

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:51 am**

Cael begins to sing the song again and starts to slow dance with Sarah doing his best to keep himself light on his feet and not crush her feet. "Maybe we can dance to this song at our wedding, it'd be nice to see you in a wedding dress, me in my dress uniform and everyone watching just the two of us on the dance floor slow dancing to Frankie Valli."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:24 pm**

"That would be wonderful," says Sarah. "You're a really good dancer too. You know, it really was a dance Blackworth was planning on having later. The CD he found had music from World War II, from his own time. I like those kinds of dances and music too; my grandparents taught it to me when I was little. Jones was the one who taught it to Brianna. That's why she was so afraid of you; she knew you were the one who killed him."

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:04 pm**

"Well it wasn't like it was a cold blooded murder. I mean my God, let the man die an agonizing death by those spiders biting him and injecting him with their poison or putting a few rounds into him with a monstrous .50cal? I hope if I'm being swarmed by spiders someone will put me out of my misery. I feel bad about the kid but under the circumstances and the way things happened, I can't say I wouldn't do it a second time, unless I know what I know now... that'd be different. I basically killed two innocent kids, one standing with a blindfold the other that could set people on fire." Cael stated trying to put that behind him.

Cael loved Sarah more than his own life but he wouldn't let his own guilt over take him, especially not now, he knew what guilt would do to you, he remembered all to clearly the death watches the guards add on him after he escaped from his Russian prison and returned home. The military and his Commanding Officers knew he was close to suicide by that point and made sure he was kept under watch.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:12 am**

"I'm sorry," says Sarah. "I didn't mean to remind you of that. I understand why you felt you had to kill Jones, but I could never have done the same thing. It was hard enough for me to kill someone who actually deserved it. Brianna didn't understand, though, and that's why she was so scared. That was my fault, not yours. If I had known then what I know now...but I was too ignorant and too stupid to figure it out and too weak to stay conscious. Otherwise maybe I could have saved her. We can't kill anyone else. There are so few people left alive, and we need all of them. I've destroyed the only safe place left in the entire world, and we've got to find a way to make it safe again. That thing in Morrison's body has to be the key."

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 12:21 am**

"Look sweetheart, quit blaming yourself already! You had no idea what was going on at the time and all you were doing was reacting to a bad situation the best way you knew how. What's done is done, we move on and look to the future, there's no sense in worrying about the past." Cael winced, he knew he had said it a little to sharp and was almost surprised he didn't address her as 'soldier'. A little more softly he said, "Perhaps if that thing that was in Morrison could be moved to someone else, I'd be willing to be that someone else."

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:32 am**

The mobile phone rings out.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:37 am**

Sarah nods. "Nobody answered," she says. "I'll try my father's mobile now." She dials Lionel's number. "I'd be willing to have that glowing thing put inside me too. That would require surgery, so either I or my father - or preferably both of us - would have to perform the operation. Only thing is, I don't know what to do, but Daddy might. So might Blackworth since he's apparently got one, but he hasn't replied to me."

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:39 am**

Sarah reaches the mobile phone's message bank straight away. Perhaps her father's mobile phone has lost its charge over the years?

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:44 am**

"Daddy, it's Sarah," she says. "I hope you and Dahlia are all right. Please call me back as soon as you can and let me know. She's got a mobile you can use if your battery has run out. I love you." She disconnects and looks for an outlet to plug her own phone into to keep its charge from running down, and then calls Dahlia on Cael's phone again.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:26 am**

"Well in the meantime while we wait, I say we dance." At that Cael starts to sing again:

"Kiss me once...and kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long, long time
Haven't felt like this, my dear
Since I can't remember when
It's been a long, long time

You'll never know how many dreams
I've dreamed about you
Or just how empty they all seemed without you
So kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long, long time

Oh, kiss me once...and kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long...such, a long time
I haven't felt like this my dear
Since I don't remember when
It's been a long....been a mighty long time

You'll never know how many dreams
I've dreamed about you
Or how empty they all seem without you
So kiss me once...and kiss me twice
And kiss me once again
It's been a long...long time

It's been a mighty, mighty long time."

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:59 am**

Sarah rests her head on Cael's shoulder as they dance slowly. When he finishes the song, she kisses him once, then twice, then once more. She forces herself to smile, trying to hide her worries about what might have happened to her father and Dahlia. "I'm so glad I met you," she says. "I thought I'd never love again. I just wish the world hadn't needed to end in order for us to meet." My love is all that's keeping Cael going, she realizes. I saved him, and I can change him so he doesn't kill any more.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:42 am**

Cael smiled warmly, even though it sounded as if Hell itself was about to be unleashed on Earth, he was as happy as could be, "Well you know if we make out of all this, relationships that start under these kinds of stressful situations usually last forever. I mean quarreling over money will never be as stressful as what we're facing." Cael stated as he held Sarah close. He was beginning think that it was taking the doctor an awfully long time to get here.

"I wonder how many different routes they could take to get here. I also wonder where exactly Morrison's body is at, maybe I could do a quick reconnaissance mission and grab him." Cael thought out loud.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:22 am**

"We both saw the room on the monitor," says Sarah. "My first guess would be the supply room in the medical bay on level two, but it could have been the food storage room on level one. I don't think we should split up, and we shouldn't go looking together just yet, or my dad might not find us. I can't be certain he heard the intercom messages. Maybe if I can get through to him we can arrange to meet somewhere."

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:24 am**

"You're probably right, splitting up is probably a bad idea. I mean for one if it wasn't for you I'd be a dead man either by my own hand or by the others. Two, well you keep me from... well, feeling bad about everything and myself. I figure if you love me, a wonderful woman like you, then I can't be so bad. I'm just a dumb soldier with a program to preserve human life by taking out those who would try to silence those lives." Cael said as he held on to Sarah and swayed back and forth to the song stuck in his head.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:45 pm**

"Thank you so much," says Sarah. "You're not a machine, you're a caring human being. We've made mistakes, sometimes terrible ones, but we're trying to do the right thing. I think it was George Orwell who said we sleep at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. If it weren't for rough men like you and my grandfather to protect us, we'd already be lost. You did save me, Dahlia, and Aidan from the hospital...though sometimes I think everyone might have been better off if I'd died there..." She looks anxiously at the ringing phone, hoping Dahlia will pick up.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:57 pm**

Cael scrunched up his face as a flash of brief anger crossed his features, "I should put my hands on your shoulders and shake the living hell out of you until those lunatic ideas fall out. You dying in the hospital would have meant more than your death then as well. If you fell who would have saved Dahlia? I would have had to go and avenge your death instead and then I would have been dead. Stephen, can't believe I forgot his name before, would have to tried to take off in this himself and possible crashed killing Dahlia. You are the love of my life and if I ever hear you say that again, I'll have to do something drastic like stick my finger in your nose or give you a wet willy, both are unpleasant you know." Cael finished with a smile and a wink.

Posted: **Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:49 pm**

Sarah can't help but laugh a little. "I suppose you're right," she says. "If my death would bring all those people back I'd make the sacrifice, but it won't. It's too late for that, and we've just got to make the best of a bad situation. I did manage to save both you and Blackworth, and we saw that Dahlia and my father were both okay. Once she picks up, then we can talk to him. He'll know what to do."

Posted: **Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:56 am**

Cael looked down the hall hoping to see someone walking down, he was getting antsy and he hated being antsy. If Hell wasn't breaking loose and everything was all good then he could easily have a pleasant and more upbeat conversation with Sarah but with all that was going on it always came back to someones death or him causing someones death or Sarah's guilt over someones death. Whatever happened to the good old days when he could ghost someone and not think twice about it?

"I know, let's play a game while we wait. Let's assume all this is over and the world goes back to a semi-normal state, albeit with fewer people but somewhat like it was, you, your father, Dahlia and I all survive this. With that said, describe what you would consider your perfect day. It can be anything, no physics or reality involved. If going to Disney World for the day and then Paris for the night is it then so be it... anything." Cael asked with a very interested look on his face as he waited for Sarah's answer.

Posted: **Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:11 am**

"H...h...hello?" comes a little girl's voice over the mobile phone.

Posted: **Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:59 pm**

"Dahlia!" says Sarah, excitement in her voice. "It's me, Sarah! Cael is with me, too. We're both hurt, but we're going to be okay. Are you all right? We were worried when you didn't answer before. And my father, is he still with you? I'd very much like to talk to him."

Posted: **Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:23 pm**

Cael smiled as he heard Sarah speaking on the phone, he took that as his queue to step away from her and he began to inspect the other rooms nearby.

Posted: **Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:44 pm**

As he leaves the corridor, he hears the sound of something being knocked over in the next room.

Posted: **Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:51 pm**

Glancing back at Sarah to make sure she was all right for now, Cael unholstered his pistol and proceeded to investigate.

Posted: **Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:33 am**

"Sarah!" replies Lionel's excited voice on the phone. "Oh, thank goodness! I despaired of ever hearing your voice again, let alone having a chance to see you and hold you in my arms again. It's been so long...Anyway, we heard you on the intercom, starting with when you saw us on the monitor. We're on basement level two. How did you get hurt?"

"It was Brianna..." replies Sarah, "but she didn't mean to hurt me, she was just scared! And then Cael tried to kill himself later, but I patched us up."

"Is Brianna with you too?"

Sarah pauses. I can't tell him what happened to her! she thinks. It would just break his heart. "No...I'm so sorry...I'll explain that later. We need a plan. We don't know what to do."

"I can help you there. We have to get that seal from Morrison's body. Then I can operate and put it in someone else, and you can assist me. Or you could do it alone if you had to. I...yes, I have a file describing how to do it on my mobile. Let me send it to yours." Sarah receives the information on her mobile phone. "There's also an emergency underground train that goes from this place back to a disused station in London, but chances are someone will take it before long if they haven't already. Daniel and Anna have the other two seals in them. If they leave..." He gives her directions to the train platform. "We've all got to stick together. The three seals may also need to be in proximity in order to protect us."

"How long will the operation take? The seal is probably near the medical bay, since that's where Morrison died. Maybe even in the medical supply room. If we can grab it quick, we can put it in someone right away if we can get you up to the medical bay. But maybe you should get to the platform if you can first and hold that train. Cael and I would both be willing to have the seal implanted."

"You don't know what kind of a burden it is, Sarah. It will eventually destroy your mind, maybe even kill you. It's been written that those who bear the seals face doom...I think. It's crushing poor Daniel. His psychic powers combine with the seal's side effects to make them worse. It can't go in you, anyway. I couldn't let you do that, and I need you to help with the operation."

"Well, it can't go in Cael. He's got to guard us while we perform the operation. And I wouldn't dream of asking Dahlia to do it, even if she weren't gifted. The security center's monitors aren't working any more, so I might as well go get Cael and try to find the seal. I have no idea where Blackworth went, but I saw him in the basement on a monitor earlier. He's not hurt, but there's this thing that can impersonate people. When it looks like him, it's horribly injured. It can look like me too, and like Cael. It doesn't act like us though, it's evil. Maybe you should try to get to the train. It's closer to where you are." Sarah follows after Cael while she speaks on the phone, staying alert to her surroundings.

Posted: **Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:13 am**

"There's a special lift that goes to the train platform," says Lionel on the other end of the phone. "You can get to it from any floor but basement level three, and it's far on the west end of the facility. It's rather dark down here, and Dahlia and I only have the little lights on our mobile phones, plus we're unarmed. I think we should try to find the stairs and meet up with you two first. We can meet in the medical bay and decide what to do there."

"It was dark up here too until I sounded the alarm," replies Sarah. "Then the red emergency lights came on."

"Yes, there's got to be an alarm down here. This is the prison level, after all."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:44 am**

The next room over is an administrative office with twelve workstation cubicles with neck-high brown wood walls. There is no sign of whatever crashed.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:51 am**

"Cael," says Sarah softly as she follows him. "What is it?"

She stops when she hears Dahlia speak on the other end of the phone. "Yes, Cael is with me," she replies. "We're so relieved you're okay. We were so worried about you. We were searching for you with Sergeant Morrison. Cael remembered that you had his mobile, and I was trying to call you when I noticed I had a message from Daddy, but I couldn't really understand it. Then I got a message from myself in the future. Parts of it were obscured by static. It sounded like I was telling myself that everyone was going to die and it was all my fault, but I heard part of it wrong. I thought I was telling myself not to trust Blackworth, but I was really saying not to mistrust him. I was so frightened of him, and for no good reason. He's a good man. I went with Cael into the breakroom to tell him in private, and Morrison locked us in. I found a way for us to escape, but I wish I hadn't.

"We went back to my room, and then Brianna came in, but I didn't recognize her because she was a few years older. When I introduced myself, she said I wasn't meant to be there and screamed. Cael approached her, and she got scared of him because he was the one who killed Jones. She ran into the hall and tried to ring the alarm, but he chased her and grabbed her. I followed him and tried to calm her down and stop her from calling the soldiers because I was so afraid of what I thought Blackworth might do to me. I'm so sorry...

Sarah pauses. I don't have the heart to tell her Brianna's dead yet! she thinks. "Brianna chanted something and then this ring of fire came out of her and hit us, burning us and knocking us back, and then she ran away. She didn't mean to do hurt us, she was just so terrified. It was my fault, not hers. I passed out from the pain, and Cael must have put me on my bed and then left. While I was drifting in and out, that evil thing that can change its appearance came and forced me to record that horrid message. I tried to resist, but it showed me the things Brianna had endured through her eyes, starting with the accident. I knew her thoughts, I saw what she saw, and I felt what she felt. I...I couldn't take it...I should have been stronger...it's all because of me that this happened...

Sarah begins to cry. "When I woke up, I was lying on my bed. It was dark, and nobody else was there. After I treated my injuries, I ran out into the hall and set off the alarm, then raced to the Security Centre to try to reach Cael over the intercom to stop him from killing Blackworth and the soldiers. I tried to tell him what I'd learned from Brianna, but he couldn't hear anything because a flashbang had deafened him temporarily. He made his way to the Security Centre anyway, and I managed to get through to him and explain the truth. I'm so sorry, Dahlia. You must really hate us now..."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:27 pm**

"I heard something crash in here, for a man that's partially deaf it must have been pretty loud but I can't see anything in here that could have caused it. I'm guessing it must be that ghost/demon whatever the hell it is that's fucking with us." Cael stated as he still searched the room, he wasn't giving up that easy.

Cael smirked as he listened to Sarah explain the chaos to Dahlia, "Hey, it was something to do think of it as a... learning experience." Cael knew this was serious but at the same time he refused to apologize for his actions, he'd done that already before and he vowed from then on, no remorse, no regrets. If being Billy Bad Ass meant he had to take out unpleasant people then so be it. After all, he had been trained his whole life practically how to kill, even his own mother showed him how to commit suicide.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:47 pm**

"Maybe there is another survivor in this room, though," whispers Sarah, looking around. "When we're done here, we've got to get to the medical bay. We can check the supply room there, and the others are going to try to meet us there. We can keep the line open the whole time so we can talk to each other."

There is a pause while Dahlia speaks. "Oh, thank you, Dahlia," answers Sarah, sniffling. "I'm giving you a hug on the phone too. I wish we were all together, but soon we will be once you find the stairs and we meet in the medical bay. I thought you might be mad at me because I caused all this to happen. I...I'll explain about Brianna later, but we won't be able to follow her where she's gone. Just know for now that she's in a much better place than we are. Cael wasn't burned much, but he hurt himself pretty bad later. After he killed Morrison, that's when everything went crazy because he broke the seal. A flashbang is kind of like a grenade, except it just produces a lot of light and noise instead of hurting you. The soldiers threw one at him, and that's why Cael couldn't see or hear so well. He fired blindly and must have killed more of them, and then he shot himself. He survived, though, and I fixed him up as best I can. It'll be a week or two before he's completely better, though. He can hear better now, but his ears are still ringing. You can talk to him in a bit if you like. Don't worry, Daddy and I are going to fix that broken seal, and then we'll all be safe again."

There is another pause. "He'd never ever hurt me, or any of us. He loves me, and he'd do anything to protect me. That's what he believed he was doing when...anyway, he knows the score now and he won't kill anyone else."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:04 pm**

Overhearing Sarah's conversation was pretty easy to do but Cael did his best to block out what was being said, his mother always told him it was rude to ease drop and besides, it was all negative stuff anyway. 'Cael killed this person, Cael killed that person, Cael shot himself...' blah blah blah. Sure it was true but a reminder every ten seconds wasn't helping matters. He just wished the enemy would rear it's head for a nice clean shot and be done with this mess however he knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

As he looked around the room he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, hacking on the smoke as it agonizingly burned his wound. 'I knew I should have stayed in bed today, next time that feeling over takes me, I'm staying put!' He thought to himself with a smile. He wasn't sure if Sarah and Dahlia would have been better off if he wasn't around but he knew there'd be a lot less dead people around.

Realizing this room was a bust, "All right, let's make our way to the medical bay, although I'm not sure if chit chatting while we head there is a good idea right now. Remember, everyone is still hot for my blood and they don't like to listen to civilians, especially one's trying to protect the guy they want dead. I'd leave the line open but just maintain radio silence until we get to our destination."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:18 pm**

[OOC: Thanks, I saw the edit. Let's wait until Laraqua lets us know if there's anything in this room before we leave for the medical bay.]

Sarah sees the pain Cael is in and realizes what's wrong. She goes over to him and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Cael," she says. "I didn't mean to upset you. Hey, Dahlia and my father don't hate us; they really care about us." She coughs a little from the smoke. "Maybe you should put that out. It's not good for you under normal circumstances, and it's only going to irritate your throat wound. We'll take one last look around, and then we'll head out. I told everyone over the intercom that you're not a threat any more, so I hope they listen. They have orders not to harm me, so if one of them shows up I can stand between you two to protect you. Just don't point a weapon at them or anything. They still have to respect the Geneva Convention, so if you surrender they'll have to take you prisoner. If we need to speak on the phone while we're on the move, we can whisper."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:34 pm**

"I'm all right, I fell back on my training like we were trained to do." Cael laughs and then begins to cough. "I'm a killer, even more so than these soldiers here. My training didn't entail hold moves or submission tactics, it was all about the best way to take someone out. Hell I tried to just knock out one of the soldiers in the hallway down from Bree, I ended up using to much force and crushed the back of his skull in. I'm not even capable of knocking someone out. It doesn't bother me to call me what I am what gets me is just how casual it sounds. 'I was walking down the hallway and then Cael blew someone's head off, we then went into the chow hall and grabbed some food.' Just strange is all."

Looking around the room again and to avoid looking at Sarah, Cael added, "If these fine soldiers here take me down then so be it, they'll have destroyed one monster today at least." Cael knew he was no better than the entity trying to get in, it was of a different type of evil than he was.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:50 pm**

"Don't say that, Cael," says Sarah, sadness in her voice. "I need you...we all do. You're not a monster any more than I am. That thing tricked us into breaking the seal and letting it inside, it used us like my father said. We're responsible for what we've done too, but we can't just curl up and die. We have to do what we can to set things right again. I'm not going to let anyone else die here."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:19 pm**

Cael winced as he noted the sadness in Sarah's voice, he didn't want to hurt her but at the same time it would be unavoidable. Cael knew what he needed to do but he knew he was to weak as well, he needed Sarah to hate him. That way her anger and hatred of him will keep her strong and focused and when he died the impact of his death wouldn't be so hard, hell she might end up spiting on his corpse and laughing.

He looked at Sarah and his heart cried out for her while his brain burned with what he perceived as a logical solution. How could he turn a woman that was so in love into one that saw hatred when she looked at the man she had loved mere moments before? How could he hurt her like that? Wouldn't that be as bad, turning her love into hate? Would that pain be worse than mourning death? He hated his father and he died, he loved his mother and she died. Which was worse?

"Sarah dear, what would it take for you to hate me?" Cael asked, after all if nothing else he had a line that was drawn for him.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:19 pm**

"What?!" says Sarah. "I could never, ever hate you, Cael." She squeezes his hand. "If I couldn't hate you after what just happened, nothing could make me hate you. Why, I never hated Lyle after all the horrible things he did to me. I couldn't even hate the entity that tricked me into causing this, I just felt pity for it. To be honest, I don't think I'm capable of hatred. Look, I know you're all torn up inside. So am I, but I'm going to help you feel better inside just as I did on the outside. We're going to get through this, all of us, and we'll be a family. We need to find that seal first. After we've done that, if Daddy and Dahlia haven't caught up with us, we ought to head for the stairs and find them. They're on basement level two right now."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:50 pm**

"Hmm... Good to know." Cael stated as he holstered his weapon, he took a step closer to Sarah and kissed her on the cheek, "I figured if you hated me it'd make it easier on you should something happen to me. However I don't know which would be worse, turning love to hate or mourning the death of a loved one. My problem is, is that I've never felt anything before today. Brief moments of extreme emotions sure but nothing lasting, nothing that remained."

Cael looked away slightly embarrassed and said, "I'm not sure how to deal with it honestly. I don't feel hatred for this entity, I only know I have to kill it. I don't feel regret for what's happened here, I only know it happened. I don't feel remorse for killing anyone, I just know that I caused it... but this love thing. It's causing me to second guess my moves, my tactics, my training... everything that makes me, well me. I have this stupid cupid sitting on my shoulder that I can't blast off with a rocket launcher, telling me that Sarah wouldn't approve or what would Sarah say. I love you more than you'll ever know but I'm starting to loose my functionality here. I forgot who said it originally but love is starting to drive me mad! At least here. Once this is all over it'll be different, I even tried to think of you as one of the guys for now but with a nice rack like that, it's hard to do!" Cael finished with a shit eating grin.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:01 pm**

Sarah giggles a little at that last comment, but then she hears something over the phone that causes her to burst into tears. "Please don't let my father hear that," she whispers into the phone, her voice cracking. "I don't think his heart could handle it. I'm so sorry...don't blame Cael, he thought he was protecting me...I knew you'd hate us..." She collects herself and speaks louder. "It's okay, Daddy. Brianna is happy and safe at last now. Nobody will ever harm her again, I promise." She covers the mouthpiece and speaks to Cael. "I don't know if the entity can be killed. It said it would be with me forever, and maybe it really is part of me like it claimed. Love is the best thing there is and well worth the high price we pay for it. It's our love that's kept us both alive. And if you're about to do something I wouldn't approve of, you listen to that cupid and stop what you're doing. I don't want you to have to kill anyone ever again. I'm so relieved that you were reluctant to kill because of me. I was so desperate to reach you before and tell you, but I couldn't until it was too late. It's good that you've kept that in mind when I wasn't around. This isn't like any kind of war there's ever been, and all our training goes out the window anyway. The old rules don't apply, and we have to learn the new ones."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:24 pm**

Cael gave the phone a bit of a perturbed look as it was obvious Bree was still the topic and he began to rub the back of his neck a little nervously... was this remorse he was feeling? A sort of sickly feeling in his gut or was the chicken last night a bit under cooked? After all he put three shots into the back of the girl's head as she was reaching for the alarm, she had just torched Sarah and himself, was her death justified under those circumstances with what he thought he knew. He began to second guess his decision and he felt slightly woozy and stumbled, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, 'Not now Cael, remain the oak, strong and rooted. Once this is over and everyone is safe, rip yourself apart if you must. For now... remain the oak.' He whispered to himself.

"New rules... It might be to late to teach this old dog new tricks. I'm not worried about killing any friendlies here, stuff like that happens all the time, suddenly your enemy is your friend so don't kill him, I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is the fuzzy head, second guessing my instincts. When it comes down to it, I can not second guess my actions when the shit hits the fan and it will. This entity isn't going to lay down and let us escape, there'll be a fight, you can count on that and even though it might not be able to die, I will die trying to figure out the best way to put a hurting on it. No one hurts my girl and gets away with it." Cael said, wishing he had a better idea of what to do.

Then as an after thought Cael asked, "Do you know if this place has a chapel?"

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:33 pm**

Sarah just hugs Cael and lets him hold her. "Thank you," she says, "but I'm not going to let you die." Her emotions were still in turmoil. I know he's killed children, she thinks, but I also know why he did it. I loved him before I knew any of this about him, and that hasn't changed. Cael is trying to do the right thing. His heart is in the right place. He would never harm me, or Dahlia, or my father. He would die to protect any one of us. He's not at all like Lyle, who only thought of himself and what he wanted, and who tried to take it by force when he couldn't get it. I saved Cael's life, and now I've got to save his soul. "I don't know if there's a chapel here or not, but we can try to find out later, when all this is over. I'm not sure who we can get to perform the wedding ceremony for us. Maybe one of the survivors in the police station, once we make this place safe and bring them here. We'll worry about that afterwards. First we need that seal."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:45 pm**

Cael blushed slightly and laughed, "Whereas that is the greatest reason I could think of needing a chapel... I thought a bit of holy water or a crucifix might be handy. I was also thinking that it could be the safest place to fall back to if need be. Every military institution I have ever been in usually has one on the bottom floor." He then grabbed Sarah by her waist and pulled her in close and said, "I am honored that you would still even consider being my wife after everything that's happened. I know I said it before but I will always protect you, love you and care for your needs over mine." At that he kissed her gently on the lips.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:55 pm**

"I'm the one who's honored," says Sarah. "I'm the one who buggered everything up royally and nearly got you killed for no reason. Once you truly love someone, nothing can ever make you stop. My father is the only other man who's so devoted to me, and no other man has loved me like you have. Mostly they just wanted to get into my pants. I'm sure you do too, but you want to get into my heart even more. There probably is a chapel around here someone. Maybe my father knows where it is. It could be that Blackworth and Anna Blaize retreated there with the other survivors, but they might also try for that train so they could escape - but where would they go? Without all three seals, nowhere is safe."

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:11 pm**

"Well we can both agree that we're both honored and probably questioning the sanity of the other." Cael laughed and added, "It be a great story to tell the grandkids one day. 'There I was standing in the stairwell and suddenly this gorgeous looking woman with blonde hair and green nurse scrubs came running up the stairs, her expression was pure terror but she couldn't have looked more beautiful.' Anyway, when this has all settled, yes I still want you to marry me." Then a slight look of confusion crossed his face, "Wait... did you say a train?"

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:10 am**

"Oh, that's right, you didn't hear my conversation with my dad," says Sarah. "There's a train platform on the lowest level in case of an emergency, but you have to take a special lift that goes there in the western part of this facility. Maybe the chapel's down there too for all I know. The train goes to a disused underground station in London, but it'll be gone as soon as someone takes it. Kind of like the train at the end of Resident Evil 2, if you've played that, only without an enormous monster that you need to fight...I hope. Anyway, we've got to get the seal before we can even think of that, and if we can implant it in someone while Blackworth and Anna are still okay, then there will be three seals and this place will be safe again. Daddy sent the instructions for the operation to my mobile. If anything happens to us, you've got to take it and find someone else who can perform the surgery. There might be someone at the police station, or maybe back at the hospital. Bearing a seal is a heavy burden that could harm one's mind and ultimately kill its bearer, especially if they're psychic, and he said something about those who bear the seals facing doom." She hears Dahlia crying on the other end of the line and speaks into the phone, shedding tears herself. "Hang in there, Dahlia. All of us are going to get through this. We'll get the third seal and find someone to put it in, and then this place will be safe like it was before I ruined everything. Once that's done, Cael can fly his helicopter to the police station and ferry the people there back here so they can be safe too. I know you must be lonely, and there are children at the police station that you could play with once they get here. We can build a new world together, all of us."

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:29 am**

"So what's to stop someone from London to come here? I mean if a train can run through the tunnel people could very easily walk here and if people can just as easily walk here then that means something else can get in. For God's sake Sarah, don't let Flower or your father get near that tunnel! There's too many damn variables of what could be down there. Forget this room, we have to get that seal and fast. As we move look at the procedure it takes to put it in, if I can still be awake and conscious I have no problem taking it and guarding you while you do it. I'm not right in the head to begin with and I've got no psychic ability." Cael then grabbed Sarah's hand and left the room.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:37 am**

[OOC: I think we should wait until Laraqua logs on and describes what we saw in the room before we go any farther.]

Sarah nods. "It's a long tunnel, but you're right. I don't believe you can be conscious while undergoing the operation, and the seal needs to go into someone with as strong a mind as possible. Being unstable makes both of us less than ideal candidates." She speaks into the phone again. "Daddy, Dahlia, try to find the stairs and then come up to the medical bay. You shouldn't go near the train platform by yourselves. If it's a way out, it's a way in too. If you haven't reached us by the time we're done there, we'll come down the stairs to find you." She opens the file and starts to read the instructions for the operation.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:45 am**

OOC: *SIGH* If we must wait.

"Look, out of the four of us I'm really the only choice we have unless we run into someone else in better shape. My mind isn't shattered but scattered and my body may be injured but I'm far from being out of the fight. I know the risk and I can understand why you can come up with all sorts of reasons why one of us shouldn't have it but to get things up and running to protect everyone, like I swore to you, I have to do this. Once we find a better candidate for it, you can swap it out." Cael stated, he did swear to Sarah that he'd protect her and Dahlia and if this is what it took, then so be it.

"Oh and to answer your question, yes I do want in your pants... baaaaadly! However your heart and mind are what I'm more interested in right now, that and your lips... so kissable." Cael leaned in and kissed her once again. "Honey... pure gold."

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:26 am**

They hear and see nothing else but they sense that there's someone in there, hiding.

POW roll to see what your instincts say. POW x1 for Sarah, POW x 3 due to Cael's military history. If you fail, feel free to move on and lock the door, etc. If you succeed, you don't get any danger sense tingling.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:32 am**

OOC: I hope I did the POWx3 right. 42 would be my score then so I rolled a d100. POWx3=42 (1d100=39)

'Something is in here.' Cael whispered into Sarah's ear as he quietly unholstered his weapon and began his way in.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:35 am**

There is a row of four cubicles with four others stretching back, suggesting 16 in all. The four work stations he can see all have a cheap wooden desk, small filing cabinet, computer, computer wheel chair and in some cases, a plastic fern. The desks are each containing a number of personal items that would reinforce the idea that once upon a time this place held people in it, working normally. Its hard to avoid the difference between past and present in here. There is a series of cupboards lining the back wall.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:36 am**

"I can't sense anyone," Sarah whispers back, unsheathing her knife, "but I trust your instincts. Be careful, but don't attack unless we're attacked first. It could be another survivor like us." She follows Cael cautiously into the room.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:40 am**

Cael slowly takes point, his pistol held out in front of him as he enters the room cautiously, for the first time he was glad the lights were out except for the emergency ones.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:53 am**

He sees no one, yet. Spot Hidden.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:03 am**

[OOC: Not sure if you want us both to roll or not, but I did and failed anyway.]

Sarah stands inside the door in case whoever is inside the room tries to slip past and looks around, but she can't see anyone.

Posted: **Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:04 am**

OOC: I think the Gods demand Cael spots a bitch!

Spot Hidden 27% (1d100=12)

'I think I see something.' Cael whispers as he moves forward.

Posted: **Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:53 am**

Hello? Where's a Keeper when you need one? Been a week almost!

Posted: **Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:52 am**

Droplets of blood can be seen on the carpet in a trail leading halfway down the romoward either the back row of cubicles or the closets on the far wall.

Posted: **Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:49 pm**

Cael follows the trail and checks the back row first and then the closets.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:06 am**

Sarah cautiously moves towards the back of the room on the other side of the cubicles, keeping pace with Cael.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:00 am**

Listen roll, please.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:05 am**

Listen (43%) (1d100=18)

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:06 am**

Sarah hears nothing unusual as she advances, too distracted by her worries.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:01 am**

Cael can hear laboured breathing coming from the closets.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:04 am**

Cael goes over to the closet and opens it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:08 am**

Sarah rushes to Cael's side. When she sees the blood, she readies her medical kit in the hopes that whoever is in the closet is still alive.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:42 pm**

One of the men, dressed in a soldier's uniform, sporting peach fuzz and the distinct look of someone too young to buy alcohol, sits curled up in the closet with a bloodied handkerchief pressed to his nose. The moment the closet doors open, he attempts to push further into the closet, moving behind the next door.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:41 pm**

Cael lowers his pistol, "Come on lad, there's strength in numbers. I have England's best nurse right behind me, she'll check you out and see what we can do about that leaky nose of yours." At that he side steps so Sarah in viewable to the lad.

Posted: **Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:32 pm**

Sarah returns her knife to its sheath and smiles at the soldier as she kneels next to him. "Don't be afraid," she says. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm going to make it all better." She stops the bleeding and bandages the young man's nose, restoring him to health. "We're going to protect you, and we've got a plan to make everyone safe again, with the help of Dr. Carpenter. You know him, right?" She pats him on the shoulder. "There you go. All better." She offers him a hand to help him up. "What's your name?"

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:55 am**

"Ph-phil McGrew," he said.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:09 am**

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Phil McGrew," says Sarah. "I know you're afraid, but you're in good hands now. I was terrified when I first got here, and for no good reason. You lot are all heroes, like my grandfather was. If only I had known...Phil, I've got Dr. Carpenter on my mobile phone right now. He's with Dahlia, and they're both fine. If you like, you can talk to them. Just be careful talking to Dr. Carpenter. He's not in the best of mental health, and if he learns that certain people are dead he might lose it. We need him at his best. I especially need him at his best. Don't be alarmed when I tell you this, but I'm Sarah Carpenter, his daughter. I'm so sorry for what I caused. I want to make things right, but I need your help, okay?" She speaks into the phone. "Daddy, Dahlia, we've met a new friend. He's one of the soldiers, and his name's Phil McGrew. He was hurt when we found him, but I patched him up good as new. Let me see if he wants to talk to you." She offers Phil the phone.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:54 am**

Seeing that Sarah has this covered Cael walks back out to the doorway and stands guard. He wanted to bark at the boy and tell him to start acting like a soldier but these days... jeez, you had to treat them like a little girl with a skinned knee. If these soldiers really were from back in the past they weren't as tough as history has lead everyone to believe.

Cael reached in, grabbed a cigarette and started to grit his teeth knowing the pain that was about to come but he needed a smoke, no two ways about it.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:57 am**

McGrew leaves the closet, blinking at them, confused. "H-hey, I-I don't really wanna talk to them. No offence. What happened? Everything got dark and those weird speaker sounds, the static screech, I-I... I'm a mechanic, an apprentice mechanic, actually, and that ain't no sound I ever thought machines could make."

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:46 pm**

Cael looked in, "No definitely not normal but then again a screeching machine didn't break your nose either. Spill the beans kid, what happened?"

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:48 pm**

Sarah glances back at Cael. "Hey, go easy on him, 'kay?" she says. "He's been through hell, same as all of us. I'm sure he'll tell me what happened." She faces Phil again and gives him another smile. "It's okay if you don't want to talk to my father and Dahlia, but if you know your way around here they'll need your help. They got stuck in basement level 2 after the lift went crazy, and they have to find the stairs as quickly as possible so they can get to the medical bay on the second floor. That's where we're headed too. If you know the way, I can pass your directions on to them.

"As for what happened, I guess you didn't hear my announcements on the intercom or our conversation in this room. I don't know how much Blackworth told you about the defenses this place has, but there are three seals that need to be surgically implanted inside a living person in order to protect it fully. Blackworth has one, Anna Blaize has another, and Sergeant Morrison had a third. When Morrison died, our defenses were breached. That's when the lights went out and the machines started going haywire. I think we still have some protection with only two seals, as it's not as bad here as it was back at the hosptial, but without that third seal in place we're all in danger.

"So that's our plan, to find that seal and someone willing to have it implanted in them. My father would be the best one to perform the operation, as he's already done it three times. I can assist him, and if I have to I can do it myself. He sent me instructions. Before the security monitors failed, I saw a pile of bodies with Morrison's on top and the seal still in him in a storeroom of some kind." She describes the room she saw. "He and some of the other soldiers died near the medical bay, so the first place we'll look is the medical supply room. If they aren't there, we should check the food stores on the first floor. When we've got it, we can prepare for the operation in the medical bay. Once the seal goes into someone, though, we won't be able to swap it out. I don't even know if someone can survive having it removed once it's in, but even if they can, removing it even for a few seconds will create a new breach in our defenses. Whoever takes the seal takes it for life. My father told me it's an extremely heavy burden that wears away at one's mind and may ultimately destroy it and doom whoever takes it on. Also, the use of psychic abilities worsens the side effects, so it's best if whoever bears the seal isn't psychic." She takes a breath. "So, what happened to your nose, Phil?"

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:36 pm**

"Sarah, I don't really give a rat's ass what he's been through. What I do care about if something big and nasty broke his nose... where? Or did he break it running into a god damn wall? I don't have the patience to play all nicey nice with a kid who apparently is better at wetting his pants than being a soldier." Cael stated, his tone hard, they didn't have to for this kind of bullshit.

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:12 pm**

Sarah sighs. "We can't all be as brave as you," she tells Cael. "You were very patient with me when I was a lot more terrified than he is. I know, I know: I'm a girl, and a civilian. But he's out of his depth here. Phil's trained as a mechanic, not a front-line soldier, and he couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen when he joined up. My guess is he was in the Home Guard or something before he came forward in time, and I can't imagine how traumatic it is to lose your entire world like that, not to mention being imprisoned here for years. My father knows, though. And nothing could have prepared Phil for what's happening, even though my father must have warned the others beforehand. We all have to cooperate and get along if we're going to get through this, so please cut him the same slack you cut me."

Posted: **Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:52 pm**

OOC: Take 2.

Cael gritted his teeth, he wanted to lash out, to get in Sarah's face and yell at her to tell her he couldn't care about showing the boy any slack. However he knew it wasn't Sarah he was mad at or this kid... Jesus he really was a kid. Cael gripped his pistol a bit tighter and then dropped it in his holster as he took a drag off the cigarette. He half smiled as he realized that Sarah was his Princess Leia, Leia was the one who calmed down Han and it was Sarah who calmed him down.

He stepped over to her and kissed her cheek, "I love you." was all he said. He looked at the kid and nodded. "We still need him to tell us what happened to his nose. big scary thing or scared kid running into something. It's sort of important."

Posted: **Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:03 am**

Phil McGrew looks confused, then his expression clears. "I'm sixteen, I was never a soldier. Few of us were. The uniforms are just for show. I just worked in an autoshop fixing cars, that's all."

Posted: **Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:39 am**

"Alright then Phil, well I'll be level with you. Some nasty shit is headed our way and we have to move. I'd prefer you to tag along for your safety but in the end it's up to you. However I want to know what made you hide in a closet and what broke your nose." Cael stated in a calm as a tone as possible.

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