Digital Waltz - Part 2

"I expected emeralds mental break!" Burner nods, "Rumbas... I feel like that's derogatory, Its actually kind of rude. MADDIE!" She calls, "I feel like the term Rumba is derogatory give us a less offensive term!"

(Frost)
"How about not giving them a title?" Frost calls back "treating them like regular people is the least derogatory option out there. Curb the racism here before they join the ranks of being treated like bat ponies."

Burner tilts her head, "the public will most likely give them a name to its better to stick a less offensive name on her now then rumba! They are pretty much a different race at this point!" She shrugs, "I'm just doing it sooner to save the trouble!"

Kaylee Brown wrote:The intent reflected in Frosts mind, but the ethereal arms only scratched the cabins surface, before loosing their grip on it. The cabin remained sitting in place. Its not showing signs of coming off the ceiling.


"...its the Phantom Body Syndrome" Clopin said in a colorless voice: "Every victim of the labyrinth lives in constant risk of suffering a mental breakdown. Every one of them has a form of mental illness.
Often, its just a question of time, before a psychotic episode happens.
You know this. You saw Madelyn's memories, did you not?

Until recently, I thought my sister was dead. I thought she was dead for 44 years. And then she came to me one day and explained everything.
What was I supposed to do. Lock her up, the moment I learned she was in a prosthetic body?..

She is my sister... a sister I thought I lost... so long ago.." he covered his face with his hands:
"Don't hurt her, please... she lost connection to reality, she doesn't fully understand what she's doing"



"We may not find her again" Madelyn quietly said: "Emerald already made it to the surface. The only way to follow her, is to go back the way we came in, when we entered the Opera House. By then, her trail will likely go cold.
Emerald's gone. I don't know how to find her again and I don't know if we have the time. Fifteen thousand mind controlled victims are grabbing people and dragging them underground.

It is sick, and wrong, and we need to think about how to stop it"



The cellphone in Rains palm showed poor reception and was struggling to connect to the voice box.

Kaylee looked at it and called: "Lets go back. Out of the Opera House, the reception should be okay above ground.
You should be able to call Harle, we'll start figuring this mess out"


"We wasted enough time" Councilor Mercer called: "Lets move!"

"You'd think the Opera House'd've better WiFi..." Rogue muses, before turning to the Clopin "Emerald said something about her last performance? Could that give us any clues as to where she might be headed?"

"Her last performance?" Clopin quietly repeated: "The Hunchback of Adelheid was supposed to premier today, 44 years ago. It was going to take place at a small theater, down town, just next to our old home.
But.. that premier never took place, because Emerald was kidnapped. And the theater was torn down, about 20 years ago. There's nothing left there now, just some old factory"



"..you can call us 'Humans' if you wish for a non offensive term" Madelyn quietly said:
"So is Emerald. A traumatized person, who has been repeatedly pushed over the edge, until she finally snapped.
She's not doing this out of malice. She's doing this, because its a symptom of her mental illness.
She suffering and she needs help.

I keep thinking, if maybe we could have prevented this from happening. Maybe.. if we were more attentive to her suffering, maybe it wouldn't have gone so bad"



"Maddie.." Cookie called: "..I.. haven't seen you snap like that, ever since they removed your Neurochip. What kept you from loosing yourself?"


"I don't know" Madelyn shrugged, looking down: "I wasn't even thinking about that. You know, how to stay sane? I only wanted to find my family. Nothing else mattered"


"...like an.. anchor.." Cookie slowly said: "...you... had an anchor, grounding you in reality. Something motivating you to keep going. Pushing back against the Phantom Body Syndrome"


"Maybe.." Madelyn quietly said: "..maybe Emerald never had that anchor. That's why she..."


"But that's good news, right? "Cookie said hopeful: "If an anchor works, then, we can help her. We can help all labyrinth victims. If there's a way we can help them fight against the mental illness, there's hope for every one of them"


Madelyn nodded: "We really should move topside. There isn't much time"

Cookie nodded: "You guys go on ahead, I'll stay here and help Ted. Maybe transfer him to a normal body. We'll catch up with you guys later"

"Alright" Maddie nodded: "Stay safe"



The sprint to the surface went by in a haze. Rewiring the broken elevator only took several moments, but it still felt painfully long.

When the giant cargo elevator finally shook and started to move back to the surface, the tension in the air was so palpable, it could be cut with a knife.

As soon as the elevator stopped, everyone piled out and ran down the poorly lit tunnel, passed Kaylee's broken car and towards the shining light of the exit.


Some moments later, your radio and phones began to come online and immediately a radio broadcast echoed in your earpiece:


"Everyone? Can you hear me? This is Dr. Lei Yan. I'm here with Dr. Zarovee and your data analyst, Amy Moore. We've been tracking the current events as best we could. Amy got us up to speed on whats happening"


"Doctor, we need a fast solution to the problem" Kaylee called, heavily breathing, as she ran down the tunnel towards the exit. Her footsteps loudly echoing over the tunnel:
"Suggestions?"



"Yes" Lei grimly replied: "But they're not perfect"

"Just give us anything" Kaylee exhaled, out of breath: "We're running out of time"




"Alright" Lei sighed: "The Opera Seven kept an emergency fail safe plan, in case their labyrinth victims ever got out of control.

There is a massive resonance reactor, built under Adelheid.

Once activated, it released a radio frequency, which resonates with Tilerium. Several seconds of exposure to that frequency and every piece of Tilerium within the Adelheid region will shatter."




"...Plumes of Dusk are made of Tilerium" Kaylee quietly said.


"Yes, I know. So are your cybernetics" Lei heavily said: "Activating the reactor will destroy every Plume of Dusk in the Adelheid region, as well as your cybernetics. The damage will be irreversible."



"Kill them? You're going to kill 15 thousand labyrinth victims!?" Kaylee barked in anger: "Do you understand what you're saying?
This plan will kill everyone! Emerald, Maddie, Cookie, Firewing, Ted, they will all die!"



"Captain, have you seen what's happening in the streets right now?" Lei called: "This madness has to end, fast. Before more people are hurt." she sighed:
"Its not like I can get to the reactor anyway.
Whether you activate it or not, is your choice. You're the only ones in any condition to reach it."



"THIS PLAN SUCKS AND I HATE IT!" Kaylee barked into the radio.


"...what's the other option" Madelyn quietly said.




"I'll let Dr. Zarovee explain" Lei said. You heard some shuffling and background noise, before Zarovee's voice echoed over the earpiece:
"E-Everyone! Do you still have the prototype I gave you? The one that can wirelessly destroy Neurochips in a 1 meter radius?

Listen, Listen! I've been reviewing its schematic ever since. I believe, with a slight modification, we can achieve a better result!

If you can find the highest antenna in Adelheid and hook up the prototype to it, we could theoretically boost the signal, to cover the entire Adelheid region. Every Neurochip in its effective radius, will be destroyed.

Of course, that also carries a possible side effect.
Many of the labyrinth victims, will be confused, upon regaining their freedom. Some may be fine, while others may potentially exhibit a destructive psychotic episode. It may end up causing even more damage and harm than we're currently witnessing.

Still, I think the overall benefits are worth the risk.

I'm eh... sorry... we couldn't come up with any other solutions so far.

You'll have to make a decision, soon.."




"These are really our only options?" Kaylee quietly said: "..this is... dangerous.."




"Oh Sophie.." Clopin quietly said, his eyes becoming wet with tears: "..why did you have to-.." he slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out a very old, faded photograph.

Three young children were depicted on it, smiling and laughing. Some of them seem vaguely familiar.

Moon frowned and shook her head “These are both awful ideas. But the second is probably the best chance. Killing won’t solve the issue.”

Mist didn’t say anything, she just anxiously ran her hand over her arm and shuddered. “I don’t want to make any choice on this matter. I’ll go along with what you think is right.”

Rain looks back at Fire, "If it's any condolancd I don't like the first idea..." fire says to the group as she crosses her arms.

Rain flips open the phone but waits to play anything, "I have an idea guys... we might possibly have a third option here. It does include the second one but we might be able to prevent most of the harm from happening. If Harle isn't already scouring the city looking for me I can call her and tell her to regroup with everyone or spread out our army to separate parts of the city, Naomi you have a hacking thing right? Is it possible to get inside Maddie, or Fires head? Because if you can we might have a solid plan." She looks back down and plays the most recent message from Harle.

"I like where you are getting at, Rain." Twilight says, nodding and rubbing her chin in thought

"The first option is out of the question, the deaths and damage would be catastrophical, basically pushing Adelheid back decades. Along with thousands of dead rumba, people with prosthetic limbs will be crippled by the fact that those limbs cease to work. Worse if they have pacemakers or something." She spoke more factually.

"Plus, the main issue with the second plan is the sheer chaos that will erupt once the rumba are freed by their neurochip, along with the fact nothing could stop an army that huge, armed to the teeth and completely made of metal." She slightly smiled "But, if we can communicate with them when they are free, we can use the right words to dissuate at least some of them. Every Rumba not thrashing around is one less foe to defeat."

"And just taking the controls from Emerald is out of the question." Angelo followed.

Twilight nods. "Yes, we have a decent plan now... Okay, some of you will fly to the highest tower to get that signal off. Be very careful not to lose it. The rest of us will get all the stuff we need to broadcast to the rumba nad calm them down."

She holds out her hand. "Anyone with me?"

"If I can get our Rangers spread out, assuming they are already here, all rangers have at least one hacking unit. Meaning if we spread everyone out into certain points in the city, Naomi included and we blow out all of those neurochips we can keep an eye on the ones that lose it and take proper measures to stop the chaos, not only that the first option would also mean countless innocent deaths and could even permently ruin my perception, Naomi use your hacking device on my sister! See if it works!"

Fire blinks, "Wait What?! Why am I the test dummy!"

Rain turns around and puts her hands on her hips, "because you almost killed us."

Fire turns nutural and sighs, "Yeah that's fair."

"Sounds like a plan" Madelyn nodded with a smile.

As Rain opened the last voice message, Harlequins distressed and firm voice boomed over the tunnel:
"To whoever kidnapped my fiance, I have 15 heavy transport planes circling Adelheid, fucking packed with Nyx paratroopers. If you don't call me back right now, we will rain hell down upon you motherfuckers!!!"


Mercer released an exhausted moan: "Oh my god, are you kidding me. Rain, call her, before she causes an international conflict"



Kaylee leaned over Clopin's shoulder and looked at his photograph. She squinted at it for a moment, her gaze becoming concentrated. Then she gasped slightly and pulled at Twilight's sleeve:

"Twi.. look at this.." she quietly called, squinting at the picture.


After a moment, she asked: "Clopin.. these kids on the photo, are they-?"


"Yeah" Clopin nodded with a sad smile: "Its me and Emerald, before.. all this.."

The picture showed two girls and a boy, standing closely together, making V signs behind each others head and smiling at the camera. They look around 16.


"Clopin... this other girl.." Kaylee began, her eyes slowly widening: "Who is she?"


"That's Audrey" Clopin smiled: "Audrey Swan. Her and Emerald were best friends"


"Oh, fuck..." Kaylee covered her mouth with one hand, as shock slowly reflected over her.


"Who's.. Audrey Swan?" Madelyn asked, looking at Twilight and Kaylee.

At the notion, she looked at the photograph. She remained neutral at the faces. But at the drop of the name, her face turned paler and her eyes shrunk slightly.

"Are you kidding me... You-You're friends... With Audrey Swan?"

Arnold raised an eyebrow. "Princess, are you okay? Is there something wrong?"

The purple pony let out a few giggles. "Oh, nothing Arnold... Audrey is just a really nice girl, we crossed paths once, had a talk, delightful company. Oh there's one other thing."
For that, she grabbed Arnold's outfit, pulling him in to scream. "SHE WAS THE HEAD OF THE OUROBOUROS GUILD!!!"

She let's him go, his head ringing from the scream. "How did that happen? Where did it happen? What the hell is going on?!" She grabs in her pocket, fishing out a smoke. Swith a swift move, it's lit in her mouth. "Okay, calm down... What would happen if Emerald saw that Audrey was alive? Would the sight cause something to short-circuit? Would it stop the rampage?"

Moon, in response to this, pacepalmed. And then she dug around in her picked and pulled out a small metal flask smelling of strong alcohol, drinking from it.

Mist shook her head “How did I get involved in all this? This is the last time I agree to spying contracts from crimelords.”

"Audrey Swan.." Kaylee sighed: "..she caused the whole demonic Mirror incident, a few years back. That's when the heroes of Adelheid first met.

Audrey.. claimed that something awful had happened to her friend.. something so bad, that Audrey lost all faith in this world, and decided to destroy it.

In the end, we managed to change her mind. She helped us destroy the Mirror. She never told us much about her friend.. I guess her friend was Emerald."



"...where's Audrey now?" Clopin asked.



"She's doing time in Soren's maximum security prison" Kaylee said, thinking: "...its.. a little sad.
Audrey and Emerald were friends, so long ago. When they became separated, when Emerald was kidnapped, they both slowly decided to take revenge on the world.

But.. if we managed to convince Audrey to stop.. maybe we can convince Emerald as well?"



Mercer crossed her arms: "Kaylee, what are you suggesting"


Kaylee brought her fist down on her palm, with determination: "We go to the prison, take Audrey with us, then find Emerald.
Perhaps the sight of her friend, can calm Emerald. Perhaps Audrey can talk her down. She can be her anchor.
If Emerald calms down, she can order the labyrinth victims to safely walk to a hospital. Remove their Neurochips in a controlled environment, where professional staff will be standing by to assist them"



"This plan can go so wrong, in so many ways" Mercer grimaced: "We don't know if Audrey will agree to help. We don't know where Emerald is, or if she's in a state to listen"


"Its.. an option" Kaylee said, nervously rubbing her palms: "..what do you guys wonna do?"



"Well, we could tackle both options at the same time" Madelyn said: "Split up. Maximize our chances of success. It will leave both teams short handed, but.. we could try it"

(Naomi)
"I...don't have a hacking device. That was Serena. I can't hack or use computers all that well honestly" Naomi glances down "I'm good for punching stuff and mechanics work. "

(Radiance)
"I'll join whoever is going to the prison, I can toss Hawkins in there while we're at it." Radiance takes a moment to stretch, "Thinking he won't be willing to actually give us any help. And, if we're lucky we can get Emerald to follow us there. She comes to get him and just so happens to run into Audrey"

(Frost)
"I'll go with which ever party has the least people once we've decided."

"We can take in the fucking platoon the love of my life sent in." She says with a sour sweet voice, she dials Harle. She stays silent a moment, "Harle darling, Its a very long story but I'm... fine-ish." She chuckles nervously before becoming more serious, "I was right to come down here but I can't wait to come home, skipping ahead to the important part. Those heavy paratrooper planes are probably going to incredibly useful dear. I'm not kidnapped it's just the entirety of the city's service was being blocked by a group of corrupt individuals using robots and self aware AI to come and kill us, and now we are facing trouble with a friend who is taking all of the active robots, and is now currently using them to turn people who disrespect them into robots as well... The whole thing is kinda fucked, I'm going to put you on speaker." She pushes a button and the phone goes on speaker.

"Hi Rains girlfriend!" Burner calls with a snort.

Fire raises her brow, "so sissy got a girlfriend... I never took you as a mares mare." She crosses her arms.

Rain shoots daggers at Fire, "I will pull those wires out of your head."

"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Audrey Swan.." Kaylee sighed: "..she caused the whole demonic Mirror incident, a few years back. That's when the heroes of Adelheid first met.

Audrey.. claimed that something awful had happened to her friend.. something so bad, that Audrey lost all faith in this world, and decided to destroy it.

In the end, we managed to change her mind. She helped us destroy the Mirror. She never told us much about her friend.. I guess her friend was Emerald."



"...where's Audrey now?" Clopin asked.



"She's doing time in Soren's maximum security prison" Kaylee said, thinking: "...its.. a little sad.
Audrey and Emerald were friends, so long ago. When they became separated, when Emerald was kidnapped, they both slowly decided to take revenge on the world.

But.. if we managed to convince Audrey to stop.. maybe we can convince Emerald as well?"



Mercer crossed her arms: "Kaylee, what are you suggesting"


Kaylee brought her fist down on her palm, with determination: "We go to the prison, take Audrey with us, then find Emerald.
Perhaps the sight of her friend, can calm Emerald. Perhaps Audrey can talk her down. She can be her anchor.
If Emerald calms down, she can order the labyrinth victims to safely walk to a hospital. Remove their Neurochips in a controlled environment, where professional staff will be standing by to assist them"



"This plan can go so wrong, in so many ways" Mercer grimaced: "We don't know if Audrey will agree to help. We don't know where Emerald is, or if she's in a state to listen"


"Its.. an option" Kaylee said, nervously rubbing her palms: "..what do you guys wonna do?"



"Well, we could tackle both options at the same time" Madelyn said: "Split up. Maximize our chances of success. It will leave both teams short handed, but.. we could try it"

"Makes you wonder, if the Digital Waltz were in control of everything, why'd they let that whole daemonic mirror incident occur at all?" Rogue asks "Surely it'd be counter-productive?"

The Mage and The Mechanic wrote:(Naomi)
"I...don't have a hacking device. That was Serena. I can't hack or use computers all that well honestly" Naomi glances down "I'm good for punching stuff and mechanics work. "

(Radiance)
"I'll join whoever is going to the prison, I can toss Hawkins in there while we're at it." Radiance takes a moment to stretch, "Thinking he won't be willing to actually give us any help. And, if we're lucky we can get Emerald to follow us there. She comes to get him and just so happens to run into Audrey"

(Frost)
"I'll go with which ever party has the least people once we've decided."

"That could work" Rogue says to Radiance "We'd need to advertise his presence there though, so that she knows he's there."

// =( lol, its gonna be one of those posts again
College is kicking me around again, I'm sorry for the inactivity guys, the rp is really important to me, I'll do my best to update as often as possible.
The college dropped a project on me last week, I have to submit it by monday. Its gonna be a bit hectic until then.

I'll try my best to update the rp, but I dunno how often it will be =(
Worst case scenario, we'll be back to full activity on monday evening, but hopefully I'll be able to update the rp until then.

Again, sorry about this >.<
Its my last year at college and they want to make us really work for it.

//Don’t worry about it. Good luck on your project.

// Thanx =)


Harlequin remained quiet for a moment, seemingly processing everything, then sighed slightly:

"...when you didn't pick up the phone, I.. feared the worst. I should've never let you go in there alone.
You don't know how happy I am to hear your voice again.."

She paused for another moment, then continued:

"Rain, I don't fully know the situation on the ground, so I will follow your lead. The men are standing by for orders, where do you want us?"



Kaylee walked closer to Rain: "If there's really 15 thousand mind control victims loose on the streets, perhaps it would be best if soldiers from Nyx dispersed throughout the city and engaged the labyrinth victims, slowing down their advance"


"Rain?" Harlequin called again: "...your orders General?"



Councilor Mercer lifted her two handed sword on her shoulder and squinted at the light, at the tunnels exit:

"Alright, lets split into teams and move fast.
Me and Madelyn will fly to the radio tower, attempt to broadcast the Neurochip signal.
Kaylee and Clopin will head to the prison.

Everyone else, lets try to slip up evenly between the groups.

Both teams will stay in close radio contact and attempt to achieve their set objectives, independently from the other team.
We can't waste time. With each passing moment, more lives fall in danger.
So whoever can achieve their objective first, should not hesitate to do so.

But stay in radio contact. In the event we both finish our objectives at the same time, we'll be able to select the best option.


To do that, we need to find Emerald.
If she doesn't show up at the prison, we'll need to deduce where she went.. if that's even possible"


Councilor Mercer looked at everyone and nodded:

"Everyone ready? Lets do this"

“I’ll go to the prison.” Moon offered, clutching the handle of her sword. She looked around with a nervous expression.

“I’ll head to the tower” Mist said quietly, her razors extending from her fingers before popping in again. She wore a dark expression of some sort.

Rain pauses, "I'm sure they can already see crowds of people down in the city, I need them to hold those groups in place, riot gear, shatterproof shields and shock blades. If they don't have that have them use your blunt weapons, full lethal is advised. Show no mercy to these things, they may look like people but they will tear you in half given the chance. Disperse into two groups and move as a unit, once you get close enough split into four and surround them, hurd any and all stragelers and begin engaging on your squad leaders orders, don't let them grab you or take you anywhere, be heartless, show no feeling. I'm trusting each and every one of you to hold the position and the line, this is your ultimate test. Don't die in me soldiers!"

Rain clears her throat, "I love ya Harle I will be home soon." She looks up, "I'll be going to the tower."

Fire smirks, "I'll move to the the prison." She nods.

"I'll join the prison team" Radiance ruffles the feathers in his wings


Naomi slams her fist into her palm "Tower!"


Frost doesn't answer right away. Instead, while the others decided she had been flipping through her book.

"Umm, I'll take the tower as well." she answers almost not aware that she's speaking

Burner bounces up and down next to naomi, "oh oh! The Tower sounds like lots of fun!"

(Naomi)
"More potential assholes to punch" Naomi flashes Burner a grin