Re: The Wretched Rite - Round Three - DSRS Darwin
09-17-2012, 12:38 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Akumu.
“Holy fuck!” Alice screamed, as the barely-teenaged girl standing not a foot away from her was skewered on a massive pitchfork. The demonbot hefted its weapon upwards, carrying Taelia’s limp corpse on its tines.
“Thank you for choosing Inferno Alpha for your eternal damnation needs.” the other demonbot intoned, and then the two of them flew away on rocket-powered bat wings. Alice stared agape at their receding forms, then turned with a jerk and ran back down the hill towards the raging waters.
“Adelaide!” she yelled at the froth, “Adelaide!”
But Adelaide was no longer there.
“Hello?!”
The cry rang off of unseen surfaces in the dark, rolling like thunder.
“Mister River!”
“Ach, ye don’t have to bloody yell.”
”Yeah, yeah, we’re here.”
The tick-tacking of claws on a hard floor was all the response that M. gave as it began to stalk off into the dark to try to get a better angle on the Walkers. It had made it a few steps when it was illuminated by a soft white light. It froze, assessing the situation.
Barrabas Poe stood in the middle of the now slightly distended ring of beings, underlit by the glowing bulk of the glassy ground beneath his feet. Around the six of them, a stormy sea was frozen, twenty-foot waves towering on either side. The waves continued beyond, seen dimly through the translucent material of the first and above their crests, the sea curving up and around to fill the sky. Frozen spray drifted through the middle of the space, and in the center a white sphere sat, hard and silent.
“Thank you, sacrifices,” Barrabas began, “You have—”
“You incredible bastard!” Adelaide cut him off, advancing with tooth and claw, “You sent us t’hell, you lit’rally sent us—”
The rusalka suddenly froze in mid-stride; the other competitors found themselves equally unable to move or speak. Poran clattered to the ground as his wings ceased to flap.
“Please, if you do not restrain yourself, I have no choice but to enforce Restraint myself. I can’t apply the rules unequally, so you are only causing your fellows to suffer with your recklessness.” Barrabas tugged at the at the hem of his jacket, smoothing it out. “As I was saying, thank you for your decisions in the previous phase of the rite. Things have clearly calmed down since you were here last. You have shown the Unborn that putting aside immediate desires can lead to greater benefit in the future, and some of you have even demonstrated true selflessness.”
A frown creased Barrabas’s face.
“I am concerned that those of you who most directly chose to work within the system are no longer with us. I can’t condone flagrant violation of rules, that way leads to anarchy, but given the structure we are enmeshed in now...”
The old man shook his head, pushing aside complicated thoughts and returning to the matter at hand.
“With the previous dual sacrifice, the rite will be accelerated. The Unborn has retreated into itself, but its gaze is still upon you, concentrated on each of you more now than ever. I wish you luck.”
Barrabas made a gesture of dismissal, and the rest vanished.
They reappeared, unrestrained once again, in a cacophony of light and sound. Amber lamps strobed and piercing tones were interspersed with a recorded voice asking the listener to please make their way calmly to the exits. Barrabas’s voice came into their minds, muting out the background noise momentarily.
“This is Deep Sea Research Station Darwin. You won’t be here long, because it won’t be here long. Something has gone terribly wrong, and to make things worse, the facilities for rapid evacuation are sorely lacking. Tough choices are going to have to be made.”
“Holy fuck!” Alice screamed, as the barely-teenaged girl standing not a foot away from her was skewered on a massive pitchfork. The demonbot hefted its weapon upwards, carrying Taelia’s limp corpse on its tines.
“Thank you for choosing Inferno Alpha for your eternal damnation needs.” the other demonbot intoned, and then the two of them flew away on rocket-powered bat wings. Alice stared agape at their receding forms, then turned with a jerk and ran back down the hill towards the raging waters.
“Adelaide!” she yelled at the froth, “Adelaide!”
But Adelaide was no longer there.
- - -
Those five who remained of the original eight found themselves in darkness. Alluvion, feeling the presence of the others nearby, called out to them timidly.“Hello?!”
The cry rang off of unseen surfaces in the dark, rolling like thunder.
“Mister River!”
“Ach, ye don’t have to bloody yell.”
”Yeah, yeah, we’re here.”
The tick-tacking of claws on a hard floor was all the response that M. gave as it began to stalk off into the dark to try to get a better angle on the Walkers. It had made it a few steps when it was illuminated by a soft white light. It froze, assessing the situation.
Barrabas Poe stood in the middle of the now slightly distended ring of beings, underlit by the glowing bulk of the glassy ground beneath his feet. Around the six of them, a stormy sea was frozen, twenty-foot waves towering on either side. The waves continued beyond, seen dimly through the translucent material of the first and above their crests, the sea curving up and around to fill the sky. Frozen spray drifted through the middle of the space, and in the center a white sphere sat, hard and silent.
“Thank you, sacrifices,” Barrabas began, “You have—”
“You incredible bastard!” Adelaide cut him off, advancing with tooth and claw, “You sent us t’hell, you lit’rally sent us—”
The rusalka suddenly froze in mid-stride; the other competitors found themselves equally unable to move or speak. Poran clattered to the ground as his wings ceased to flap.
“Please, if you do not restrain yourself, I have no choice but to enforce Restraint myself. I can’t apply the rules unequally, so you are only causing your fellows to suffer with your recklessness.” Barrabas tugged at the at the hem of his jacket, smoothing it out. “As I was saying, thank you for your decisions in the previous phase of the rite. Things have clearly calmed down since you were here last. You have shown the Unborn that putting aside immediate desires can lead to greater benefit in the future, and some of you have even demonstrated true selflessness.”
A frown creased Barrabas’s face.
“I am concerned that those of you who most directly chose to work within the system are no longer with us. I can’t condone flagrant violation of rules, that way leads to anarchy, but given the structure we are enmeshed in now...”
The old man shook his head, pushing aside complicated thoughts and returning to the matter at hand.
“With the previous dual sacrifice, the rite will be accelerated. The Unborn has retreated into itself, but its gaze is still upon you, concentrated on each of you more now than ever. I wish you luck.”
Barrabas made a gesture of dismissal, and the rest vanished.
They reappeared, unrestrained once again, in a cacophony of light and sound. Amber lamps strobed and piercing tones were interspersed with a recorded voice asking the listener to please make their way calmly to the exits. Barrabas’s voice came into their minds, muting out the background noise momentarily.
“This is Deep Sea Research Station Darwin. You won’t be here long, because it won’t be here long. Something has gone terribly wrong, and to make things worse, the facilities for rapid evacuation are sorely lacking. Tough choices are going to have to be made.”