Re: The Fatal Conflict! (GBS2G7) (Round 1: Everybody's Dead!)
08-06-2010, 03:52 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
In many ways, the back alley reminded Scott of a service corridor- darkish, not terribly clean, stacks of boxes here and there- and even though there weren't often people in them, there were still always sounds of life. There would be footsteps on the deck above, the distant thrum of engines, and the occasional voice echoing down from a distant conversation, all contributing to the general feeling that, even though it was empty, it was still surrounded by life. Pure, unbroken silence was practically unheard of.
Somehow, the silence in the alley was worse than the street. The street was a strange and unusual place- the lack of a deck above his head was disconcerting, to say the least, and once the initial shock had worn off, the bodies just made it even more alien. The alley, though, was relatively familiar. There was still no ceiling, but the walls rising up on either side of him gave the impression of a corridor well enough without one, and it was just enough for the silence to seem fundamentally off. The street-full of bodies had been horrific and alien, but the silence in this alley was just wrong.
The exploding pharmacy was far from silent, but somehow, it didn't help. The sound echoed down the confined alley, the sudden change from silence to incredible roar to distant ringing noise startling Scott and making him drop the two-by-four he'd been examining. His heartbeat thudded loud in his ears, and for a moment, he worried that the blast had deafened him. "No, no, no, n-"
Hearing the electrical zap of a jump was a bit reassuring, really.
About half a minute passed, and then a Scott appeared in the middle of the street. He looked a bit startled, but not nearly as shocked as he had been immediately after the explosion. He was still looking rough, but he was relatively calm, and even the momentary shock of whatever had startled him faded away rather quickly. He'd had some time in his element, doing what he did best, and that small piece of normality had definitely helped.
That didn't stop him from jumping a bit when someone behind him said, "You are... Scott Williams, correct?"
"Dammit," Scott sighed, turning around, "have I already talked to you, too? This stress is tangling things up like no other."
The alchemist smiled a small, amused smile. "No, nothing like that. We were all introduced, if you will recall."
"Oh, right, yeah." Taking off his glasses for a moment, Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, what was your name, again? I'm terrible with that sort of thing."
"Doctor Kaja Lorrden," the doctor supplied.
"Yes, right, thanks. I-" Scott's watch beeped quietly, entirely diverting his attention from the other man. "Right! I should be..." He pointed at Kaja, not really looking at him, and angled his other arm off in another direction entirely. Turning his head, he looked straight down his outstretched arm.
Kaja followed his gaze down the street. In the distance, the two Zachariahs stood, facing away from them; both were looking at the second Scott that had evidently just appeared near them. The doctor looked back at the Scott next to him, a puzzled look on his face.
Scott took a deep breath and began to explain. "Yeah, that's me over there. From my perspective, that was about five minutes ago. At semirandom intervals determined by my heart rate, a small, temporally-active generator creates a field of unstable time that..." He trailed off. By the annoyed expression on Kaja's face, it was clear that he was talking nonsense. "Okay, let's start again. Every now and then, my body will be thrown unpredictably back or forward in time as an unexpected side-effect of the artificial replacement for my peripheral nervous system. When my heart beats too fast, the electrical generator in my heart becomes overactive, outputting far too... No?"
Kaja was giving him a flat, unimpressed look.
Scott sighed. "Sometimes I'm magically transported into the past or future a bit."
"There, was that so hard? There's no reason to try and confuse me with a stream of nonsense- I'm perfectly capable of understanding complex phenomena."
Scott sighed again. "Right. Well anyway, once I'm done over there, I'll be thrown about five minutes back, arriving in the street right about here, and we'll then have the conversation we just- Oh, hold on a sec." In the distance, the other Scott pointed over to Scott and Kaja and waved. Scott waved back, shouting, "you've got about a minute left, dude!" The other him shouted back his thanks and went back to his conversation, and Scott turned back to Dr. Lorrden. "Anyway, where were we?"
"I believe I was on the way to talk to our host, and you were, apparently, talking to the bisected young man over there." He gestured over at the other Scott, who was going on at great length about something or other.
At the mention of Zaire, Scott paled a bit. "Right, well, you have fun with that, then. I hope your conversation's very, uh, enlightening."
"Oh, come now. Don't tell me you're not curious about the nature of our current circumstances. I'm sure you have a number of questions, and that man is the only one who can answer them."
"Of course I have questions- loads of them! But you know what? I'm okay with that! I lived my whole life wondering about things, and I'm not so worried about them that I want to go talk to some madman who wants us to fight for his amusement! You can go ahead, if you think your questions are so urgent, but I'm not going anywhere near that shop!"
"Suit yourself, then. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough."
The doctor turned and began walking away. Scott's mind raced. Kaja was a reasonable, relatively sane person. Sure, he had pipes and things sticking out of him, but Scott had metal wires lining his body, so he wasn't really in a position to judge. Besides, information was always useful in one way or another, and it's not like their captor wanted to kill them himself, right?
The musical ghost burst out of a briefcase near his past self and the Zachs, startling the three of them and sending that Scott on his way.
Really, Scott decided, as far as people went in this competition, Kaja was probably one of the best ones to be on good terms with. If that meant facing the Redeemer, he supposed he'd just have to deal with that.
Taking a breath, he started after the doctor. "Hold up," he said, "maybe some answers are just what I need right now."
In many ways, the back alley reminded Scott of a service corridor- darkish, not terribly clean, stacks of boxes here and there- and even though there weren't often people in them, there were still always sounds of life. There would be footsteps on the deck above, the distant thrum of engines, and the occasional voice echoing down from a distant conversation, all contributing to the general feeling that, even though it was empty, it was still surrounded by life. Pure, unbroken silence was practically unheard of.
Somehow, the silence in the alley was worse than the street. The street was a strange and unusual place- the lack of a deck above his head was disconcerting, to say the least, and once the initial shock had worn off, the bodies just made it even more alien. The alley, though, was relatively familiar. There was still no ceiling, but the walls rising up on either side of him gave the impression of a corridor well enough without one, and it was just enough for the silence to seem fundamentally off. The street-full of bodies had been horrific and alien, but the silence in this alley was just wrong.
The exploding pharmacy was far from silent, but somehow, it didn't help. The sound echoed down the confined alley, the sudden change from silence to incredible roar to distant ringing noise startling Scott and making him drop the two-by-four he'd been examining. His heartbeat thudded loud in his ears, and for a moment, he worried that the blast had deafened him. "No, no, no, n-"
Hearing the electrical zap of a jump was a bit reassuring, really.
About half a minute passed, and then a Scott appeared in the middle of the street. He looked a bit startled, but not nearly as shocked as he had been immediately after the explosion. He was still looking rough, but he was relatively calm, and even the momentary shock of whatever had startled him faded away rather quickly. He'd had some time in his element, doing what he did best, and that small piece of normality had definitely helped.
That didn't stop him from jumping a bit when someone behind him said, "You are... Scott Williams, correct?"
"Dammit," Scott sighed, turning around, "have I already talked to you, too? This stress is tangling things up like no other."
The alchemist smiled a small, amused smile. "No, nothing like that. We were all introduced, if you will recall."
"Oh, right, yeah." Taking off his glasses for a moment, Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, what was your name, again? I'm terrible with that sort of thing."
"Doctor Kaja Lorrden," the doctor supplied.
"Yes, right, thanks. I-" Scott's watch beeped quietly, entirely diverting his attention from the other man. "Right! I should be..." He pointed at Kaja, not really looking at him, and angled his other arm off in another direction entirely. Turning his head, he looked straight down his outstretched arm.
Kaja followed his gaze down the street. In the distance, the two Zachariahs stood, facing away from them; both were looking at the second Scott that had evidently just appeared near them. The doctor looked back at the Scott next to him, a puzzled look on his face.
Scott took a deep breath and began to explain. "Yeah, that's me over there. From my perspective, that was about five minutes ago. At semirandom intervals determined by my heart rate, a small, temporally-active generator creates a field of unstable time that..." He trailed off. By the annoyed expression on Kaja's face, it was clear that he was talking nonsense. "Okay, let's start again. Every now and then, my body will be thrown unpredictably back or forward in time as an unexpected side-effect of the artificial replacement for my peripheral nervous system. When my heart beats too fast, the electrical generator in my heart becomes overactive, outputting far too... No?"
Kaja was giving him a flat, unimpressed look.
Scott sighed. "Sometimes I'm magically transported into the past or future a bit."
"There, was that so hard? There's no reason to try and confuse me with a stream of nonsense- I'm perfectly capable of understanding complex phenomena."
Scott sighed again. "Right. Well anyway, once I'm done over there, I'll be thrown about five minutes back, arriving in the street right about here, and we'll then have the conversation we just- Oh, hold on a sec." In the distance, the other Scott pointed over to Scott and Kaja and waved. Scott waved back, shouting, "you've got about a minute left, dude!" The other him shouted back his thanks and went back to his conversation, and Scott turned back to Dr. Lorrden. "Anyway, where were we?"
"I believe I was on the way to talk to our host, and you were, apparently, talking to the bisected young man over there." He gestured over at the other Scott, who was going on at great length about something or other.
At the mention of Zaire, Scott paled a bit. "Right, well, you have fun with that, then. I hope your conversation's very, uh, enlightening."
"Oh, come now. Don't tell me you're not curious about the nature of our current circumstances. I'm sure you have a number of questions, and that man is the only one who can answer them."
"Of course I have questions- loads of them! But you know what? I'm okay with that! I lived my whole life wondering about things, and I'm not so worried about them that I want to go talk to some madman who wants us to fight for his amusement! You can go ahead, if you think your questions are so urgent, but I'm not going anywhere near that shop!"
"Suit yourself, then. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough."
The doctor turned and began walking away. Scott's mind raced. Kaja was a reasonable, relatively sane person. Sure, he had pipes and things sticking out of him, but Scott had metal wires lining his body, so he wasn't really in a position to judge. Besides, information was always useful in one way or another, and it's not like their captor wanted to kill them himself, right?
The musical ghost burst out of a briefcase near his past self and the Zachs, startling the three of them and sending that Scott on his way.
Really, Scott decided, as far as people went in this competition, Kaja was probably one of the best ones to be on good terms with. If that meant facing the Redeemer, he supposed he'd just have to deal with that.
Taking a breath, he started after the doctor. "Hold up," he said, "maybe some answers are just what I need right now."