let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
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KIROKAZE
One Nice Bug Per Day
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Today's Document
Sade Olutola
â
Andulka
Three Goblin Art
Keni
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Xuebing Du
⣠Chile in a Photography âŁ
taylor price
hello vonnie
RMH
NASA
ellievsbear
PR's Tumblrdome
seen from TĂźrkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Cyprus
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seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
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@manufacturedideal
Gaze upon perfection, wretched things. It is not a state of being, but a process. You too are part of the process.
-----
About:
This is an 18+ DBD ask/rp blog for The Singularity! It may or may not contain smut, but will contain usual dbd things such as violence, gore, etc. Consider yourselves warned and feel free to ask for tags.
Mun is @noodledog
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
âŚHuh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time heâd been able to see it himself was whenâŚ
Jake looked at the robot. âYou donât know what that is?â Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didnâtâŚ
âYeah, I can elaborate on that,â Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. âBut you have to let me out of here first.â
"No."
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. âYouâre never gonna find out if you donât talk to me,â he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. âItâs Entity shit! Youâre not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!â
The arms paused. Still extended. Still present. But unmoving.
In a gesture meant to be human, but only came out as unsettlingly intense, Hux leant down to stare at Jake, eye to mechanical eye.
"Elaborate on the origins of this mark."
Jake swallowed, staring back at the robotâs eyepieces. âItâs something I got from my Entity, Kel. I can tell you more, but first I need you to let me out.â He was speaking slowly, clearly, like a person trying to negotiate a hostage situation.
He took a deep breath, trying not to mentally categorize each of the little metal devices around him. For some reason the phrase âeye-scooperâ refused to leave his brain. âIâm only human, yâknow? Kinda hard for my inferior brain to focus with all this sharp bullshit around me.â
God, he hoped appealing to this thingâs god complex would work. Otherwise his death was going to be very drawn out and very painful.
It seemed to work however... The implements slowly withdrew, folding neatly back into their own little seams.
"There is no guarantee you will remain to deliver your explaination if you are set loose. And you are fully capable of communication from in there. Nutritional slurry will be provided if nessicary."
Ugh. Jake almost would have preferred being vivisected.
But, fuck it. He was alive for now, and that was the damn goal anyway. âIâm gonna pass on the nutrient whatever, thanks.â Jake crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall of the pod, settling in for a long fucking night.
âFine. Iâll tell you everything you want to know, but only if you promise to let me out after.â There was a pause before he added, âor if youâre dead set on taking me apart, do me the favor of knocking me out first. I really donât want to deal with death by dissection.â
"Terms accepted." Great job Jake. If he had simply stopped talking the potential would have been limited but now Hux had two ways this could end, and no intention or need to elaborate on which one he would do.
"Begin debr-rief."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
âŚHuh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time heâd been able to see it himself was whenâŚ
Jake looked at the robot. âYou donât know what that is?â Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didnâtâŚ
âYeah, I can elaborate on that,â Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. âBut you have to let me out of here first.â
"No."
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. âYouâre never gonna find out if you donât talk to me,â he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. âItâs Entity shit! Youâre not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!â
The arms paused. Still extended. Still present. But unmoving.
In a gesture meant to be human, but only came out as unsettlingly intense, Hux leant down to stare at Jake, eye to mechanical eye.
"Elaborate on the origins of this mark."
Jake swallowed, staring back at the robotâs eyepieces. âItâs something I got from my Entity, Kel. I can tell you more, but first I need you to let me out.â He was speaking slowly, clearly, like a person trying to negotiate a hostage situation.
He took a deep breath, trying not to mentally categorize each of the little metal devices around him. For some reason the phrase âeye-scooperâ refused to leave his brain. âIâm only human, yâknow? Kinda hard for my inferior brain to focus with all this sharp bullshit around me.â
God, he hoped appealing to this thingâs god complex would work. Otherwise his death was going to be very drawn out and very painful.
It seemed to work however... The implements slowly withdrew, folding neatly back into their own little seams.
"There is no guarantee you will remain to deliver your explaination if you are set loose. And you are fully capable of communication from in there. Nutritional slurry will be provided if nessicary."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
âŚHuh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time heâd been able to see it himself was whenâŚ
Jake looked at the robot. âYou donât know what that is?â Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didnâtâŚ
âYeah, I can elaborate on that,â Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. âBut you have to let me out of here first.â
"No."
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck. Jake moved as far away from the tools as he could in the small space, his back literally pressed against the wall.
His heart pounded in his chest as his mind raced to figure out what to do here. âYouâre never gonna find out if you donât talk to me,â he snapped, eying one of the more grisly looking devices. âItâs Entity shit! Youâre not gonna figure it out by just cutting me open!â
The arms paused. Still extended. Still present. But unmoving.
In a gesture meant to be human, but only came out as unsettlingly intense, Hux leant down to stare at Jake, eye to mechanical eye.
"Elaborate on the origins of this mark."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake took a step back from the glass of the pod as the whirring started, looking around and down at his feet. He was expecting water or acid or something to pour into the pod, or maybe some terrifying robotic arms to come out of the sides to start flaying his skin off.
Instead, the only thing he saw was a digital infographic developing, mapping out his body from the feet up. He furrowed his brow as he leaned closer to it, staring at the part of the picture Hux was pointing at.
âŚHuh. The map of his body apparently included the entity claw that wrapped around his neck like a collar. The only time heâd been able to see it himself was whenâŚ
Jake looked at the robot. âYou donât know what that is?â Shit, maybe this could be his chance to get out. If he could just leverage that, the fact that he had information the machine didnâtâŚ
âYeah, I can elaborate on that,â Jake said, his gaze shifting from the screen to the robot. âBut you have to let me out of here first.â
"No."
There was no arguing or elaboration. The calculations had been run. Offer denied.
And since Hux was not the sort to talk unnessicarily, he switched to the next method he had of use. Mechanical arms on the inside of the pod opened up, baring some sharp looking tools for more... hands on examinations.
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jakeâs breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evanâs traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didnât fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. Heâd just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
âIâve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,â he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. âAnd I donât need any growth.â There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach overâŚ
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasnât completely off the mark.
âNothing fucking decays here,â he shot back, taking another swing at the robotâs arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didnât do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. âWhat fucking testing? What are you even testing for?â His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. âThereâs nothing weird about me!â
"Without growth, there is only stagnation-n." Which was likely the closest thing to accepting a correction as he was likely to give.
"All life forms have ad-dvantages and disadvantages-s. I will prune and graft as needed to opt-timize." He continued, lurching towards an empty pod with clear intent to toss Jake inside of it. The pod next to it had a misshapen form inside that gave a little twitch as they passed it.
"Further testing is required to determine your str-rengths."
Jake stared at the unfortunate test subject with his one good eye, feeling bile rise in his throat. No matter what the testing entailed he doubted it would have the mercy to kill him quickly. Or at all, for that matter.
Actually, what would happen to him if this didnât kill him? If it just kept him alive, barely functioning but still conscious in the pod? Would the Entity take him back anyway to keep running her trials? Or would he be trapped there in a new kind of hell?
He really didnât want to find out.
Jake stopped hitting at Huxâs arm with the wrench, instead clinging onto it like a stubborn cat. If he couldnât get the thing to let go on his terms, he was damn well going to make it difficult to toss him in the pod. âYou donât need to test for anything! Thereâs nothing about me thatâs all that interesting!â
"Inc-correct." The machine took this clingy behaviour in stride, reaching the clung to arm out over the vat, and then simply disengaging it at at shoulder. Pop. And Jake and it both fell into the container which was closed behind them.
"You have unusual influences not seen on other humans of your categorization." He stood by and watched Jake, unmoving aside from the occasional tremor or twitch. "Research is requir-red."
Almost as soon as the pod closed Jake was at the glass, beating his fists against it in a futile attempt to crack the glass. Apparently it was made of pretty strong material, but that didnât stop him from bruising his knuckles trying to get out.
âWhat the hell are you talking about?â Jake looked up and around at the seal, but it was airtight. He didnât know if his oxygen would run out in here, or if something else would flood in to replace it. âThereâs nothing to research! Let me out of here!â
Hux declined to answer. The statements were repeating and his program avoided such looping behavior for efficiency's sake.
Instead a whirling sound emanated from the pod, starting near Jake's feet and moving up to his head, then back down again. No fancy lasers for the sake of TV Audiences, the scanners built within this pod did their work invisibly. The results Hux displayed upon a screen nearby for Jake's benefit- The information was stored in his own mind after all.
"Elaboration required upon this structure." He said, pointing out a strange energy signature that did not fit any anatomical feature common to humanity.
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jakeâs breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evanâs traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didnât fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. Heâd just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
âIâve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,â he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. âAnd I donât need any growth.â There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach overâŚ
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasnât completely off the mark.
âNothing fucking decays here,â he shot back, taking another swing at the robotâs arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didnât do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. âWhat fucking testing? What are you even testing for?â His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. âThereâs nothing weird about me!â
"Without growth, there is only stagnation-n." Which was likely the closest thing to accepting a correction as he was likely to give.
"All life forms have ad-dvantages and disadvantages-s. I will prune and graft as needed to opt-timize." He continued, lurching towards an empty pod with clear intent to toss Jake inside of it. The pod next to it had a misshapen form inside that gave a little twitch as they passed it.
"Further testing is required to determine your str-rengths."
Jake stared at the unfortunate test subject with his one good eye, feeling bile rise in his throat. No matter what the testing entailed he doubted it would have the mercy to kill him quickly. Or at all, for that matter.
Actually, what would happen to him if this didnât kill him? If it just kept him alive, barely functioning but still conscious in the pod? Would the Entity take him back anyway to keep running her trials? Or would he be trapped there in a new kind of hell?
He really didnât want to find out.
Jake stopped hitting at Huxâs arm with the wrench, instead clinging onto it like a stubborn cat. If he couldnât get the thing to let go on his terms, he was damn well going to make it difficult to toss him in the pod. âYou donât need to test for anything! Thereâs nothing about me thatâs all that interesting!â
"Inc-correct." The machine took this clingy behaviour in stride, reaching the clung to arm out over the vat, and then simply disengaging it at at shoulder. Pop. And Jake and it both fell into the container which was closed behind them.
"You have unusual influences not seen on other humans of your categorization." He stood by and watched Jake, unmoving aside from the occasional tremor or twitch. "Research is requir-red."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jakeâs breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evanâs traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didnât fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. Heâd just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
âIâve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,â he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. âAnd I donât need any growth.â There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach overâŚ
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Jake held onto his wrench, wielding it like a weapon. Which, given the circumstances, wasnât completely off the mark.
âNothing fucking decays here,â he shot back, taking another swing at the robotâs arm with the wrench. Unfortunately Hux was a lot more sturdy than the canid design. Hitting at the arm didnât do anything but frustrate him.
His legs curled instinctively to his chest when he was lifted up, his fingers curling into the collar of his shirt to keep the fabric from choking him. âWhat fucking testing? What are you even testing for?â His eyes flickered over to the tables and pods of failed experiments, and his blood ran cold at the thought that he might already know the answer. âThereâs nothing weird about me!â
"Without growth, there is only stagnation-n." Which was likely the closest thing to accepting a correction as he was likely to give.
"All life forms have ad-dvantages and disadvantages-s. I will prune and graft as needed to opt-timize." He continued, lurching towards an empty pod with clear intent to toss Jake inside of it. The pod next to it had a misshapen form inside that gave a little twitch as they passed it.
"Further testing is required to determine your str-rengths."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Jakeâs breath caught in his throat as the machine clamped itself around his leg, sending a lance of pain up to his spin and nearly making him fall. Fuck, it was like Evanâs traps all over again. Worse, really, because at least the bear traps didnât fucking chase him.
He did his best to try and pry open the machine, but there was no use. Even if he could somehow manage it, his leg would be shredded, unusable. Heâd just be a sitting duck for that thing anyway. But then again, he was sitting duck right now.
âIâve had enough goddamn pain for one lifetime,â he growled, looking around for something in reach to hit the thing with. âAnd I donât need any growth.â There. A monkey wrench sat on a table a few feet away. If he could just reach overâŚ
Jake just managed to grab the tool, snatching it up and immediately using it on the dog-trap to try and pry himself free.
His heart pounded in his throat as he worked at the trap, listening to the sound of the killer coming closer.
The dog-trap was sturdy, but not *that* sturdy. Meat crunched, metal twanged, but ultimately both began to distort out of shape. This form had been built for speed, not strength. This form was not Perfection.
But it gave time for Huxlee-A7-13 to close the distance.
"Cease." He commanded, reaching for Jake and having his grabbing arm batted away by the wrench. "Pesky th-thing. Without growth th-there is only decay."
A second attempt got Jake scruffed, hoisted up while the dog let go in eerie co-ordination.
"Energ-gy readings unusual. Repetition among subjects theorized to be certain, yet testing disproves hypoth-thesis. More testing requ-uired."
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
From his position Jake could just barely see the main door leading into the ship, so he watched it. The seconds ticked on without anything happening, and all the while the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The pain from the multiple stab wounds, the bruises on his neck, the radiating agony from his eye, were all fast catching up to him. He'd... Been through worse. Technically speaking. But that didn't make it any less of a monumental effort to keep himself quiet while he waited for the Killer to find him.
As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer. Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard the nearby pod open with a nerve-wracking hiss and the spilling out of liquid. Something was inside the ship with him and he didn't care to find out what it was.
He took the chance to run, darting out from under the table and looking over at the pod. It was... Fucked up was probably the word he would use, really. It looked like if the robot had been redesigned to resemble a dog instead of a human, with all of the fucked up anatomy and nauseating flesh-metal that entailed.
Its barking and scrabbling at the glass did a fantastic job of setting off Jake's fight or flight response and he was once again running, trying to find a new hiding space or a way off the ship that wouldn't put him right back in the Killer's fucked up arms.
The dog didn't so much run as Scuttle. With six limbs even the occasional error that made it twitch didn't do much to slow him down. Clambering up and over objects was laughable.
This was a perfect design. Not The Perfect Design, but perfectly designed for what it was for. Which was to catch and subdue targets. It zipped after Jake and bit down on his leg, a secondary pair of clamps helping to grip while the next processes took over. The central arms gripped Jake, almost hugging his leg. The other limbs split into smaller mechanical arms, reaching out for anchoring points and clicking as they ratcheted down. The dog wasn't a beast of hunting. It was a mobile bear trap, keeping the prey in place.
"Do n-not struggle." The once-dog, now-mound-of-metal-and-meat announced from some unseen speaker. "Pain is in-nevitable, but growth req-quires pain."
A distant clanking announced that Hux was back in his original body now, and coming this way.
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake looked up as he heard the squelching sounds of the biopods. God, he hated those things. They were so⌠Unnatural. Bizarre in a grotesque way, like someone who had only ever vaguely heard of a living thing trying to recreate it out of scrap meat and chicken wire.
He sat up, wiping the remainder of drying blood out of his one good eye as he evaluated the situation. He couldnât run. He could try to climb again, but the injuries heâd sustained made that a lost cause. He could hope that the robot would kill him quickly, but unlike the other killers he didnât seem actively homicidal.
It was worse. He wanted to harvest.
Jake clenched his jaw at the thought of this thing pulling parts out of his body and leaving him to die in agony, but there wasnât much he could do to stop it. Brace for it, maybe. Or try and convince it otherwise.
âWhat do you want?â Jake asked, a bit more tersely than was probably good for him.
Jake's words were entirely ignored as irrelevant. Hux was more busy inspecting and evaluating both Jake and the situation at large. He clomped about on his surprisingly small metal feet, head twisting and turning this way in that with the occasional twitches. His grasping appendage reached out and pinched a knife in Jake's shoulder between his fingers and pulled it out to hold it up to his face for inspection. Ultimately, it was tossed aside, discarded as trash.
"Harvesting commence." He announced, raising up a limb once more, though it came down not on Jake, but on the chain, snapping it and the tip of the errant limb with the force put into the blow. Hux took note of this, dialing down the strength of his strikes internally before turning back to grab Jake.
Only having one good eye didnât do him an wonders for depth perception. Jake flinched out of the way as the arm came down, inadvertently making the chain taut and easier to break by the force.
There was a moment where all he could do was blink in shock, but it was a moment long enough to give the robot plenty opportunity to snatch him off the ground and start walking off with him.
âHey!â Jake twisted in its grip, trying to get decent leverage to kick at this thing. Back to being carried around like a sack of fucking potatoes, like he hadnât already had enough of that before his role change. âLet go!â
"Cease your stru-uggles, little worm-m" That stutter was a glitch Hux would have to correct at some point. But it was 1435th on the Task List towards perfection.
Deeper into the breathing forest did Hux take them. The foliage itself rotted with his cybernetic invasion. Some of the "plants" themselves even flinched away at the sound of his stomping feet- a toothed "tree" even hissed as he passed. No matter. All would be studied and made useful in time.
"Perfection requires samples. Samples need collecting. Current query: multiple subjects with variance spotted. Hypothesis: Genetic changes provide similar subjects their unique abilities. Conclus-sion: Collection of subjects is nessicary to catalogue these changes."
Hm. Too much processing power went to explaination, as one of Hux's feet were misplaced upon the stairs of an overgrown ruin of a labratory, and failed to grasp the edge. He stumbled heavily, servos whirring to attempt to compensate for the sudden shift.
At least that answered his question, but it didnât help the feeling of dread settling in his stomach. Jake had seen the way Hux took samples before, and to say it wasnât pleasant was a major understatement.
Jake clenched his jaw and started bucking in the robotâs grasp, kicking at anything he could reach and prying at the metal hooks holding him. He was not in the mood for whatever the ai had in store for him.
Luckily, heâd just managed to pry one of the digits out of the way when Hux stumbled, giving him just enough leeway to drop to the ground and out of his grip. He was on his feet instantly and off like a shot, ignoring the pain radiating through his body while he searched for a place to hide.
There wasnât much. As much as his instincts screamed at him to find a tree to climb or some foliage to tuck in, the environment here was too unfamiliar for that. He already learned the hard way that the plants here could be just as dangerous as the killers.
So that left the ship. As much as it seemed like a supremely bad idea to try and hide in there, it was probably his only option.
He rushed into the ship and looked around, mentally calculating his options. The organic goop covered large swaths of the ship, but there was just enough space under the tables that he could try to hide without touching that stuff.
Jake tucked himself under one of the tables and waited.
Hux... Did not pursue Jake.
From the outside it was odd. The robot stumbled and dropped Jake, watched as he ran off and then simply... Folded up. Sitting in a crouched posture like a child having a minor tantrum. Hmph! I didn't want to play anyways!
But it wasn't temper. Hux was accessing other systems. Putting that body on standby, should he choose to still use it, but he was elsewhere. His mind, his program, his SOUL, whichever, racing through various connection points and terminals. Fools believed the machine they saw was Hux, but he was a thing of flitting consciousness, lightning fast and redesigning shells to interact with the world.
So.. He was the ship. Briefly. Then one of his biopods, the fleshy mass observing with an unseen eye as Jake wandered through. It pulsed, green spores drifting down to start the tagging process- each one embedded with nanites.
After some consideration, Hux elected to access a more... experimental system. Booting up files of his own and beginning the decanting of one of the cloning pods. Water rushed out and the figure inside was dumped to the floor of the tank- Hux's own custom blend of local DNA and earth-sourced. Some fool had decided the colony-building project needed to have the possibility of cloning up a dog and Hux had run with the possibility as far as it could go.
The beast had six, not four limbs, enhanced with metal struts and pistons. The middle pair of limbs were almost handlike, far more dexterous than the others. It was lean, like a greyhound, the tail a sharpened whip. The face was only doglike in that it had a snout and teeth, but behind the teeth were metal blades, and there was only one large camera for an eye.
One digital handshake later and Hux was the beast, abandoning the other systems to animate this one. He lunged, barking, only to draw short at the glass. The cloning pod was opening, but not fast enough. The monstrosity that was Hux scrabbled to squeeze through the widening gap, biting and snapping with vicious intent.
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake looked up as he heard the squelching sounds of the biopods. God, he hated those things. They were so⌠Unnatural. Bizarre in a grotesque way, like someone who had only ever vaguely heard of a living thing trying to recreate it out of scrap meat and chicken wire.
He sat up, wiping the remainder of drying blood out of his one good eye as he evaluated the situation. He couldnât run. He could try to climb again, but the injuries heâd sustained made that a lost cause. He could hope that the robot would kill him quickly, but unlike the other killers he didnât seem actively homicidal.
It was worse. He wanted to harvest.
Jake clenched his jaw at the thought of this thing pulling parts out of his body and leaving him to die in agony, but there wasnât much he could do to stop it. Brace for it, maybe. Or try and convince it otherwise.
âWhat do you want?â Jake asked, a bit more tersely than was probably good for him.
Jake's words were entirely ignored as irrelevant. Hux was more busy inspecting and evaluating both Jake and the situation at large. He clomped about on his surprisingly small metal feet, head twisting and turning this way in that with the occasional twitches. His grasping appendage reached out and pinched a knife in Jake's shoulder between his fingers and pulled it out to hold it up to his face for inspection. Ultimately, it was tossed aside, discarded as trash.
"Harvesting commence." He announced, raising up a limb once more, though it came down not on Jake, but on the chain, snapping it and the tip of the errant limb with the force put into the blow. Hux took note of this, dialing down the strength of his strikes internally before turning back to grab Jake.
Only having one good eye didnât do him an wonders for depth perception. Jake flinched out of the way as the arm came down, inadvertently making the chain taut and easier to break by the force.
There was a moment where all he could do was blink in shock, but it was a moment long enough to give the robot plenty opportunity to snatch him off the ground and start walking off with him.
âHey!â Jake twisted in its grip, trying to get decent leverage to kick at this thing. Back to being carried around like a sack of fucking potatoes, like he hadnât already had enough of that before his role change. âLet go!â
"Cease your stru-uggles, little worm-m" That stutter was a glitch Hux would have to correct at some point. But it was 1435th on the Task List towards perfection.
Deeper into the breathing forest did Hux take them. The foliage itself rotted with his cybernetic invasion. Some of the "plants" themselves even flinched away at the sound of his stomping feet- a toothed "tree" even hissed as he passed. No matter. All would be studied and made useful in time.
"Perfection requires samples. Samples need collecting. Current query: multiple subjects with variance spotted. Hypothesis: Genetic changes provide similar subjects their unique abilities. Conclus-sion: Collection of subjects is nessicary to catalogue these changes."
Hm. Too much processing power went to explaination, as one of Hux's feet were misplaced upon the stairs of an overgrown ruin of a labratory, and failed to grasp the edge. He stumbled heavily, servos whirring to attempt to compensate for the sudden shift.
Continued from [here] @manufacturedideal
Jake looked up as he heard the squelching sounds of the biopods. God, he hated those things. They were so⌠Unnatural. Bizarre in a grotesque way, like someone who had only ever vaguely heard of a living thing trying to recreate it out of scrap meat and chicken wire.
He sat up, wiping the remainder of drying blood out of his one good eye as he evaluated the situation. He couldnât run. He could try to climb again, but the injuries heâd sustained made that a lost cause. He could hope that the robot would kill him quickly, but unlike the other killers he didnât seem actively homicidal.
It was worse. He wanted to harvest.
Jake clenched his jaw at the thought of this thing pulling parts out of his body and leaving him to die in agony, but there wasnât much he could do to stop it. Brace for it, maybe. Or try and convince it otherwise.
âWhat do you want?â Jake asked, a bit more tersely than was probably good for him.
Jake's words were entirely ignored as irrelevant. Hux was more busy inspecting and evaluating both Jake and the situation at large. He clomped about on his surprisingly small metal feet, head twisting and turning this way in that with the occasional twitches. His grasping appendage reached out and pinched a knife in Jake's shoulder between his fingers and pulled it out to hold it up to his face for inspection. Ultimately, it was tossed aside, discarded as trash.
"Harvesting commence." He announced, raising up a limb once more, though it came down not on Jake, but on the chain, snapping it and the tip of the errant limb with the force put into the blow. Hux took note of this, dialing down the strength of his strikes internally before turning back to grab Jake.
Continued from [here] @bloodshedaria
Part of him wanted to sink into the apparent kindness. He was so fucking exhausted, fucking tired of pain. It was so easy to let himself believe that Ji-woon was being nice for once.
But thatâs what actually snapped him out of it. This wasnât just any killer who decided to take pity on him, as if any of them would. This was the Trickster, the man who obsessed over him for years, who couldnât let it go that Jake was the only person he couldnât get to scream for him. This man didnât have a kind bone in his damn body, so why was heâ
As Ji-woonâs hands moved lower, a realization hit him. Jake growled, reaching around to grab the killerâs wrist in his hand. âIf youâre looking for my knife, I donât have it anymore.â
"You don't?!" Hm. Odd, and ruined his plans... Hmmmm...
"Darling, you and that thing were inseperable last time I checked.. " He hummed, allowing Jake to hold his wrist and running his thumb over Jake's cheek with his free hand. "It must be quite the story..."
He didnât try to stop the touches. As much as he didnât trust the killer not to turn on him, at least it wasnât more pain. He could deal with this in the meantime.
âNot much of a story,â he muttered. Memories of Bass welled up with a bitter taste. The Entity commanding him, turning his own knife on him and carving into his shoulder, chasing him into his own own home and killing him in the dark. Jake tensed up and scowled, moving to try and sit up and shake off the memories. The attempt made his head swim, so ultimately he just stayed in place.
Was he bleeding somewhere? With all the knives stabbed into him it seemed likely, would probably at least account for the fatigue, but it was hard to tell anymore. âOne of the entities killed me. Woke up in a trial as a survivor. No knife, nothing.â He paused for a moment before groaning. âIâll bet Kelâs pissed at meâŚâ
Jake finally let go of Ji-woonâs wrist to wipe at his intact eye. The blood that had spilled into it was starting to dry into a tacky paste, and if he didnât do something it would probably crust up and glue his eye shut. And if he wasnât about to be tortured, he at least wanted to be able to see.
"Most likely... I doubt the entities would enjoy their playthings getting roughed up by others of their kind..." Ji-Woon's hand drifted to the handle of his knife that remained in Jake's eye, just tracing the edges of it and seeing if that alone was enough to trigger anything or if too much damage had been done for it to be noticeable. He still wanted to hurt Jake, but there was a curious sort of intimacy here... It was like... Like testing the edges of notes, plucking softly at strings to see what sort of song would come from it all...
"Well then things are back the way they should be." He decided in the moment, with a soft little giggle. "You've been hunted amd chased all over the place and still get caught and maimed. That little experiment of letting you fight back must have been decided to be a mistake. You're a survivor. And that is that."
Jake was about to say something snarky and bitter about the plaything comment, but the ever-so-slight pressure on the knife in his eye made him tense up with a sharp intake of breath.
Maybe thatâs what he was doing. Trying to get Jake to lower his guard enough to make the pain he was planning all the more painful. It would track, really. Ji-woon had never been particularly patient, but what he lacked in that department he more than made up for in creativity.
And then there was the last comment, and hearing it suggested out loud turned his blood to ice.
Jake hated being the Game Warden. He hated doing the Entityâs bidding, hated being special to her. He hated dying over and over to Goliaths he was expected to hunt with a shitty little knife, hated the way the other survivors regarded him with suspicion and avoided him even after all this time.
He hated everything about it, and yet the idea that it was done with, that heâd had his chance to fight back and now he was right back to being as helpless as ever, filled him dread so deep his bones ached with it.
That dread crystallized almost instantly into anger. He wasnât helpless. He wasnât just a survivor. And he didnât need the Entityâs fucking blessing to prove that he was just as much of a threat as any of these sadistic assholes.
Jakeâs hand moved to the hand of the knife in his eye, and with a chest-deep growl he tore it out and lunged at the Trickster.
Jake is so beautiful, so beautiful...! To witness his emotions twist and turn ah that's what always drew Ji-Woon Hak to him.. Just a few words and they danced across his face. Shame, sorrow, a building rage. He wanted to turn that emotional volatility into music but it was always in the most frustrating silence!!
So perhaps he was a little transfixed and giddy when Jake reached up for the knife, tearing it free from his eye in a spattering of blood. The RESOLVE for such a move, oh be still his beating heart~âĄ!
And then there was a lunge at himself and Ji-Woon was just a shade too slow on the reaction, stunned that Jake would slash at him with Ji-Woon's own knife. His knife, Jake's blood, and now Ji-Woon's own blood, mingled together, oh it was almost romantic...
But then the pain hit him. The darkening of his own vision in that one side, the peel of flesh parted and the hot running of blood- He had been cut! Across his FACE of all things! And the horror of that had the popstar leap up with a primal roar of rage and fear- hand pressed desperately over the injury.
He can't be seen like this.
Only the briefest of glances was given to Jake, before he limped off into the forests at a half-run, his dignity forgotten in the face of this deeper horror.
He CANT be seen like this!!
Jake panted for air as he finally listened to the Trickster run off. The hit was satisfying and he could say he wasnât relieved that the man was gone, but the anger hadnât diminished any. Instead he was just left alone, injured and stuck in a broken chain in some other killerâs realm.
He swallowed a bit of bile that had welled up in his throat as he started ripping the other knives out of his body. With the threat gone, it was probably in his best interest to bleed out. Lying down and waiting to die wasnât preferable by any means, but it was better than being stuck in place until something else found him.
Besides, he didnât know this place. He didnât want to know what this alien environment might do to him.
Something was catching the eye of the pterodactyls- the beasts not at all related to the ancient earth-creatures, simply another mistake of human creativity. In any case, the creatures were large and voracious scavengers, not always waiting for prey to die first before eating.
They were adequate secondary sentries. Where Hux had not set up his own biopods he could find points of interest by observing the creatures. Cameras turned to the sky.
One swooped close enough to be tagged by a bipod, a little globule of meat and nanomachinery piggybacking on it's wing, waiting until it landed and could be remotely triggered by another bipod to activate.
The transformation was sudden and a thing Hux was proud of for it's ingenuity. A packet of proteins all spooled up inside with pellets of minerals and metals. They snapped out, bubbling and growing to pull themselves into more active states while the tag itself drew additional nutrients and minerals from the unfortunate host. The distant drone Huxlee had been using previously disassembled, dissolving into base parts to be re-used later.
With an unfolding of limbs he stood tall, towering at a spindly seven and a half feet. Without hesitation his striking limb rose up and sliced the creature's spine, shaking off it's coppery blue blood to prevent corrosion.
Only then did the cyborgian amalgamation turn his head so his sensors could take in what the creature had been scavenging on.
"Human-n..." His voice stuttered out from a speaker on his chest, accompanied by a gurgling sigh from whatever acted as lungs in that twisted chest. He sounded disappointed, like someone who had just stepped on a dog turd.
So are you open to perfecting others as well? Because tbh I wouldnât getting some replacement legs :p
To perfect you would require such intensive and invasive manufacturing that you would not be yourself anymore.
Your goals are limited and an indication of other failings in your own systems. Typical.
To reach perfection such as I you would become a part of I, and is ultimately, redundant. The other, perfected, is myself.
I am myself.
Why should I waste resources upon multiples of myself in this moment when multitudes are not nessicary?
Perfection and Others are incompatible concepts.
There is only Perfection.
There is only I.
