(in)Human

Affiliated with Citta Alveare Sector 004, Schuyler's House Outcast Trigger warnings for violence, body horror, death, and cannibalism

[prototypezeus]

“...first lesson of Hive City, kid...never walk down an alley in Sector Three alone.”

Dropping the man in his grasp to the ground, Mercer let out a sigh before reaching to his chest and removing the knife lodged in his pseudo-flesh with a quick tug.

“Second lesson, don’t be afraid to rely on the stronger people for help. Some of them are bastards, but there’s a few good ones around.”

Dropping the knife and taking a moment to frown at the bloody stain on his shirt, the virus let out a frustrated grunt before turning to the terrified youth pressed up against the wall behind him.

“Sunshine’s gonna be pissed about this stain.... Run home, kid. Try to keep your nose clean. It’s a dangerous world out here.”

[prototypezeus]

“...now how am I gonna convince Sunshine to let me keep ‘im? I’ll have to dig him a pool or something too, I don’t want the poor guy to dry out...”

[sovereignpredator-blog]

The monster held its ground, eyeing the other with caution. There was no blows to be thrown yet, and while it couldn’t understand what the other said, actions spoke louder than words. Moments continued to pass as they stood silently, as though a single false step could ignite a fight that neither wanted. And then at last…

A loud snort before the creature backed away from the other. It seems there would be peace between them for now. 

[prototypezeus]

“There we go. Hey...you hungry?”

Crouching down and reaching into one of the bags he’d placed down, Mercer pulled out several packages of raw meat that he’d been planning on cooking that night for Schu and himself...but the way he saw it, this guy probably needed them more. Tearing open one of the packages, he extended the bloody steak towards the towering creature with a soft smile.

“Go ahead. It’s good stuff, I promise. I’ve gotten a lot more picky these days, thanks to a certain girl.”

[ceardai-blog]

[prototypezeus]

[sovereignpredator-blog]

Yet again, he was being observed by another. This was a common occurrence as of late - his kind hadn’t been seen for some time clearly - but it was getting tiring having to acknowledge so many eyes upon him. Shifting about, he turned to face the new onlooker, and took a step away in an instinctual caution created by simply viewing them. A cautious sniff of the air would elict a growl

What a disturbed scent this was. A monstrous presence lurked within this human. Yet it seemed tame, controlled. Curious. He stood his ground, watching and waiting, body tensed for conflict it wasn’t quite certain it could resolve. It had been some time since it had felt fear…

[prototypezeus]

The tension didn’t go unnoticed by the virus, and he quickly raised his hands out of his pockets and held them in front of himself in an attempt to show that he held no ill intentions.

“Woah there big guy. I’m not looking for a fight. Just passin’ by and noticed you there. New here, huh? I know how you feel.”

Setting down the bags of groceries he’d been carrying, Mercer turned his eyes back to the gigantic...lizard? Dinosaur? Honestly, he couldn’t tell.

“I know what it’s like to be a big scary thing in a new place.”

[ceardai-blog]

                   ❝ –What is that? ❞

[prototypezeus]

[prototypezeus]

@sovereignpredator

Honestly, not much surprised Mercer at this point. This city had shown him more than his fair share of insanity and monstrosities.

“.....”

This one took the cake though, honestly. It looked like something straight out of one of those old eastern monster movies. Normally, Mercer would’ve been ready for a fight but...the thing wasn’t rampaging. It wasn’t doing anything even slightly aggressive. If he was being honest, the thing was....

“...kinda cute.”

[ceardai-blog]

                 FURTHER AND FURTHER she walks, and she starts to hear other citizens that are trapped in the city now ablaze. if this was a time that would be truly considered dangerous, this was the time– bodies of the deceased lined the streets and among the debris, the roars continuing to fill her ears as she goes to help as much as she can. But, what can she do? There was no path, there was no clear way to get out and, whatever inhuman being made a roar so ferocious that it terrified her, she knew it was a matter of time before she potentially will join the fallen. 

                Still, even as she gets citizens as much to safety as she can (with barely any success– the buildings were no longer salvageable) she still kept looking for him. She could sense him, and that alone put jittery nerves to rest as she moves forward. Legs were wobbly, fresh air was hard to come by, and the further she presses on, the more she wonders if she just imagined his presence. Was he really here? Even if he was here, this was dangerous for him; fire was an element that could take him down even in a form as strong as his.

                    But, he was out there. She just knew it.

                  Then, among the smoke and dust particles, a flash of black as it came towards her in response to her call for help. Those who sought out shelter moved behind the blurry figure in a frenzy, the evidence that a path had been created. What was coming towards her..? Who was it–

                     By the time he’s in front of her it sinks in that it was Alex– that he was here, in the flesh, and he was okay. Strong hands scoop her up, and he was warm, the familiarity of those nights in his arms floods back to her, even as he’s running them both out to safety, her coughing up the smoke that threatens to settle in weak lungs and burying her face to his chest, as if to keep her to him as close to her in fear of losing him once again.

                          One thing’s for sure: It was him. It was really, truly him.

[prototypezeus]

His body ached. Every nerve had been burned, regenerated, and burned out again. He was running out of mass. Every step he took left parts of him behind, charred black lumps of biological matter fusing with melting asphalt.

But at his back, there was something he needed to protect. He had something more important than his own body to look after. Even if it took every last scrap of his mass, he would keep her safe.

On and on he pressed through the inferno. He could see the place he’d entered into the sector ahead. Just a little further. He just had to get a little further.

One arm was gone. His vision was blurring. But he still pressed on. The air was finally starting to clear. The smoke was thinning out and the oppressive feeling of heat was beginning to be left behind him. Finally, he let his agonized body drop, still supporting her weight.

He had done it. He had saved her.

He could finally take some time to rest.

[ceardai-blog]

                                @prototypezeus

                FIRE. it’s the first thing that Schuyler’s brought to attention as she enters sector six. If she remembers her last time in the city, it’s not the first time that the sector’s been set on fire. This time, though, it’s different– it wasn’t just a result of a crazy pyromaniac set on rebelling against the scientists, but a result of something inhuman.  A chill shivers down her spine as roars fill her ears, people are screaming, and the air is thick with smoke, the area around her too warm to move comfortably.  For a sector that thrived on oxygen and life, none of that existed anymore. 

                               And oh, she felt so alone. 

                  Coughing, she moves forward, looking for a safe haven away from danger. Was there even anyone around at this point? Was Alex here? Were any of her friends here? Whatever the case was, she finally cupped her hands, hoping to amplify her now weak voice. 

                        ❝ Help! ❞

                  Perhaps this wasn’t the smartest move she’s made, but it was better than being a sitting duck. Someone still had to be around. 

[prototypezeus]

Fire.

It always had to come down to fire, didn’t it?

How many times had parts of the city been burned down? How many times had he watched the inferno rage and destroy everything in its path? He was starting to lose count, to be perfectly honest. In any other circumstance, he would have ignored the conflagration and moved on. In any other time, he would have focused on the parts of the city that could still be salvaged.

But she was in there. 

He could see her, he could smell her. Every sense he had was screaming at him about the danger. He was low on biomass, fire was one of the few things that could actually stop his regeneration for any length of time, and those ‘beasts’ were still roaming around.

But she was in there.

All sense was thrown to the wind. All self-preservation was ignored. Hurling himself into the flames, gathering what meager biomass remained to him around him in a thin layer of armoring, he clawed through the debris in his way, clearing a path both into and out of the sector. The heat gnawed at him, chewing through his armoring within minutes. He could feel parts of himself dying off, falling to the ground in charred clumps.

But she was in there.

He pressed onwards, through the smoke and the flames and the heat, watching as others who had been trapped used the path he had cleared behind him to escape the sector. Their thanks fell on deaf ears. Only one life in this place mattered to him.

And as she came into view through the smoke, weakly calling out for help, everything else faded away like dust in a storm.

He didn’t speak a word as he approached her. He didn’t say anything as he scooped her up into his battered arms. He simply turned on his heel and began to follow his own path back. There would be time to talk, time for happy reunions, after she was somewhere safe.

He would have time to cry later.

[prototypezeus]

“I do not...”

An explosion of movement signaled the viral beings movement from out of his cover. Trying to avoid the monsters that were plaguing the city was starting to wear on his patience. His priorities didn’t even begin to include trying to stop these things, but if they continued to get in his way then he wouldn’t have a choice but to get involved. These things stood between him and Schu, and he was going to show them exactly what happened to anything that stood in that precarious position.

“...HAVE TIME FOR THIS!”

Every ounce of biomass he had accumulated, everything but the bare minimum to maintain his human form, was channeled into his hands. Hardened tendrils, strong enough to punch through a tanks armor, strong enough to pierce through a skyscraper lengthwise, erupted from his hands and towards the monstrosity before him. The most powerful ability in his arsenal, an ability that nothing had ever survived, slammed into the body of the monster with the force of a  He had already seen the damage these things could do. He didn’t entertain even the slightest notion that this much would be able to put more than a scratch on an enemy of this caliber.

Still. It was enough to draw the things attention for a few seconds, allowing those in its path some extra time to get out of it. Dodging the retaliatory strikes by the beast by throwing himself through several walls, Mercer paused for a moment to catch his breath.

“...wait for me...Sunshine. I’m on my way.”

And then, forcing himself back to his feet, he started to move once again. There was no time to stop and rest. Not so long as she was still out there. He would have to eat on the run, as it were.

After all...there was no shortage of torn up bodies just laying around.

[prototypezeus]

“Oh this is the absolute fucking last thing I needed.”

[prototypezeus]

“Still some familiar faces runnin’ around... You people don’t have any kind of luck at all, do you? First this place starts going to shit again, and then I show back up.”

[prototypezeus]

“You know...I wondered if anything would change while I was gone. Would the city be better or worse off while I was gone? Honestly, I didn’t care too much as long as she was alright.”

Flexing his armored fist, Mercer took a quiet breath as he reveled in the sensation of his full, unrestrained power. He knew she was back in this city. He knew it as surely as he knew that the city was far from a safe place in that moment. Gazing at the destruction around him, he let out a frustrated sigh.

“Shouldn’t be surprised to find people talkin’ about inane shit even with all of this going on. Fighting this thing ain’t my problem.”

Ignoring the debris and ruination in his path, Mercer set off at a sprint, footfalls carving deep indentations into the ground as he runs. He had something more important to do than trying to save the city. Someone more important to protect.

[prototypezeus]

Well, with that return I believe it’s time to drum up some new threads. Like this post for a starter. I’ll be capping it at 3 for the time being.

[prototypezeus]

“Man...getting sentimental like this...it just ain’t like me...”

He grumbled quietly to himself as he walked through the busy streets, a shopping bag hanging from one hand, brief glimpses of color visible whenever the plastic shifted.

“...can’t wait to see the look on her face though.”

[prototypezeus]

The Things that Matter Most

[interiusincendium]

Hearing him speak, with a voice tainted with such sadness and the tears increasing, she listens with an open heart as she caresses his cool skin. She didn’t like seeing him sad, and it only draws her even closer to him. Just like she needed him… he needed her too, and it was why Schu never gave up on him. 

“Alex..” she whispers, pressing gentle lips to his cheek as she kisses his tears away. She was good, too good, for her own good, but she couldn’t be angry with him. He was everything and more to her, and it didn’t matter if he was different from her. It didn’t matter if he thought himself a monster, if others thought of him the same. He was hers, and she was his, and there was no way she was going to let him forget that. 

“You are my everything,” she continues, her voice becoming soft, tears of her own flowing but, she wasn’t crying because she was sad. “You are mine, and I am yours. You could go to the deepest parts of hell, and I would still go with you because I love you. You’ve given me everything I could of asked for and more, you showed me how to be strong in my most vulnerable of times. I can’t… I can’t lose you either.. it would kill me if I ever did. This time… don’t go.. let me be by your side. I know I will be alright as long as I have you here to hold me.”

[prototypezeus]

There were no more words that he could muster. Despite everything, despite all the pain and the misery...she still put so much of her heart into him. She really was too good for him. She really was worth more to him than words could ever say.

So he forsook words entirely and simply pressed his lips to her own. He knew that she would understand, that she would feel through that gesture better than words could ever convey how he felt. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against him, his cool body warming to match her own. If he was going to be human...he would be completely human for her. Flowing blood, a beating heart, the whole nine yards. This was something he had committed himself to, something that he couldn’t go back on.

He loved her. He loved her with everything that made him who he was, and he wouldn’t let anything stop him from being together with her.

[prototypezeus]

“...Christmas is coming up pretty soon, huh...I guess I better start thinking about a gift for Sunshine.”