Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
07-18-2010, 10:03 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
Lloyd wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a fool, either. Ceiling-mounted gun turrets weren't exactly the sort of thing he could deal with. Give him a subtle and intricate set of interconnected plot points, and he could wreak havoc, but against as simple a foe as bullets, he wasn't very capable.
So he hung back in the hall while Karen dealt with them. He didn't have long to wait, and soon the turrets were silenced in crunches of metal. He waited a moment, then took two steps into the room, only to be greeted by a sword lodging itself in the wall a few feet to his left. The robot was nearly on top of Karen, ready to stab her in the neck with what was presumably a poison of some kind.
He moved forward, waving his hands in a placating gesture. “Whoa! Whoa! Let's not be hasty here! The Monitor said something about not killing each other right off the bat!" After a second's contemplation, the robot retracted the needle and moved back.
Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. Now, maybe, they could move on and figure out a way to screw with the Monitor.
Before he could say anything, though, the floating ball of plant spoke, causing Lloyd to jump a bit. He hadn't noticed it come in, and even if he had, the fact that it was capable of speech would have been startling alone.
The way it speared the first of the creatures in the neck was a bit disconcerting as well. From the books he'd been in, Lloyd had always seen death as a dramatic, soul-crushing moment of loss and regret. He hadn't expected it to be so... uneventful. It had just been stabbed, twitched, then died. There was no subtle feeling of remorse as the thing's soul faded from existence, no moment where time seemed to slow as it breathed its last, shuddering breath. It just... died. One moment, it was moving, and the next, it wasn't.
He probably would've preferred it if it had been a bit more dramatic. As it was, it just served to make the "real world" seem that much more cold and bleak. Was that all he'd get, he wondered? Just a split second to realize his end, then nothingness?
He mentally shook himself, coming back to the present. He could wax existential later; now, there were creatures attacking them, and if he didn't want to experience a similarly underwhelming end, he'd need to be more attentive.
Lloyd wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a fool, either. Ceiling-mounted gun turrets weren't exactly the sort of thing he could deal with. Give him a subtle and intricate set of interconnected plot points, and he could wreak havoc, but against as simple a foe as bullets, he wasn't very capable.
So he hung back in the hall while Karen dealt with them. He didn't have long to wait, and soon the turrets were silenced in crunches of metal. He waited a moment, then took two steps into the room, only to be greeted by a sword lodging itself in the wall a few feet to his left. The robot was nearly on top of Karen, ready to stab her in the neck with what was presumably a poison of some kind.
He moved forward, waving his hands in a placating gesture. “Whoa! Whoa! Let's not be hasty here! The Monitor said something about not killing each other right off the bat!" After a second's contemplation, the robot retracted the needle and moved back.
Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. Now, maybe, they could move on and figure out a way to screw with the Monitor.
Before he could say anything, though, the floating ball of plant spoke, causing Lloyd to jump a bit. He hadn't noticed it come in, and even if he had, the fact that it was capable of speech would have been startling alone.
The way it speared the first of the creatures in the neck was a bit disconcerting as well. From the books he'd been in, Lloyd had always seen death as a dramatic, soul-crushing moment of loss and regret. He hadn't expected it to be so... uneventful. It had just been stabbed, twitched, then died. There was no subtle feeling of remorse as the thing's soul faded from existence, no moment where time seemed to slow as it breathed its last, shuddering breath. It just... died. One moment, it was moving, and the next, it wasn't.
He probably would've preferred it if it had been a bit more dramatic. As it was, it just served to make the "real world" seem that much more cold and bleak. Was that all he'd get, he wondered? Just a split second to realize his end, then nothingness?
He mentally shook himself, coming back to the present. He could wax existential later; now, there were creatures attacking them, and if he didn't want to experience a similarly underwhelming end, he'd need to be more attentive.