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Sarah Winters

"Life is a bit funny sometimes. I'd laugh at it, if I still knew how."

0 · 1,880 views · located in Sam's Puzzle

a character in “The Human Puzzle”, as played by Haas33

Description




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{" You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.ā€}
-Maya Angelou
|| Nui Harime Theme - Kill la Kill ||
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|{Full Name}|
Sarah Winters

|{Nickname}|
Just Sarah

|{Age}|
18

|{Sexuality}|
Straight

|{Role}|
The Pawn

|{Ability}|
Sarahā€™s abilities grew immensely after being cut off completely from Stephen. They gave her new abilities: she can control both insects and animals now, including weak minded humans or humans in a state of mental unpreparedness (like when they are hurt, fatigued, or sleeping). She can also read minds, to an extent. Complex minds are hard to decipher.

|{Containment}|
When the scientists were fiddling around with her brain and abilities, they made her completely obedient to them. She is completely brainwashed and does not require containment. However, as a precaution a small remote control chip was placed inside her brain that sends pulsating waves to her brain preventing her from controlling or understanding minds.




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{"Happiness is good health and bad memory.ā€}
-Ingrid Bergman
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|{Quirks || Habits || Oddities}|
ā–ŖRarely smiles
ā–ŖLacks much emotion
ā–Ŗ She has no concept of privacy
ā–ŖShe tends to stare at people for no reason
ā–Ŗ She bites her nails
|{Likes}|
-singing
-reading
-being alone
-trying to understand people

|{Dislikes}|
-Sam
-People who she canā€™t control
-Her past, because she canā€™t remember it so it frustrates her
-The chip in her head
-Being told No

|{Talents || Strengths || Skills}|
āš˜She is highly skilled in combat, trained at the facility so that strong minds can not overcome her.āš˜
āš˜She does not tire easily from mind control, and mind reading doesnā€™t affect her much at all if itā€™s a weak mind. āš˜
āš˜Attractive, can be distractingāš˜
āš˜She lacks much emotion, so her actions are based on pure calculative knowledgeāš˜
āš˜She has mastered reading minds and fighting at the same time, which is indeed a deadly combinationāš˜

|{Flaws || Weakness}|
āš˜Tires against complex or strong mindsāš˜
āš˜She has a radius of control that extends to one mileāš˜
āš˜Can control two or three minds at a time, four if they are all weak, but big groups can be a problemāš˜
āš˜She lacks emotions so her actions can be very harmfulāš˜
āš˜Does not remember her pastāš˜

|{Fears}|
ĆøSamĆø
ĆøStrong minded people who can over power herĆø
ĆøNot having controlĆø

|{Secrets}|
āœ¤She still has dreams about her pastāœ¤
āœ¤Has occasional moments of clarity when she possesses emotion, understanding, and regret.āœ¤
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{"Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures.ā€}
-F. Scott Fitzgerald



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|{Personality}|

Sarah has lost much of her personality over the years. Somewhere along the way, some brain alteration of some sort made her lose most of her emotional response. She doesnā€™t feel much remorse, sadness, happiness, or anger. That does not mean she doesnā€™t feel anything. It just now takes a considerable amount of effort to receive an emotional response from her.

She is still somewhat curious and kind, often doing things too nice for the scientistā€™s liking, but this is a rare occurrence because she has been broken by the scientists so well. She is similar to a trained dog. Occasionally she may stray from what her owner desires, but in the end she is still on a leash.

Sarah has given up most hope and motivation to do things. If Sam tells her to do something, she no longer asks questions or resists. She just does it because there is no point not doing it.

However, her entire personality and perspective is not her fault. She used to be a wonderful girl before they started fiddling around in her brain. She was resilient, and loving. She was intelligent and daring. She would do anything for her brother. But the scientists changed her and now she doesnā€™t feel as she used to. She is broken.

She is merely the Pawn of the scientists, and she accepts it.






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|{Appearance}|
Sarah has red hair like her bother that is very long and slightly wavy. Her hair is short in some places, and she has bangs. This gives her a sort of edgy vibe. She has gray eyes, but her normal eyes are rarely seen as her eyes are red when she is reading someone's mind. Since she can't turn off this abilty, if someone is in the room she is likely reading their mind (unless the chip in her head is turned on). She also has a small smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks. She is fairly lean and young looking, but this makes her agile and quick in combat. People often mistake her for someone younger than she really is

|{Defining Features}|
She has several scars on her skull, but they are not seen because of her hair. (this is also the reason why her hair is shorter in some places. Though it may seem like some sort of fashion, really its because her head was shaved in places to get to her skull. Other than that, she only has a couple miscellaneous scars on her body.

|{Height/Weight}|
5'2" / 110 lbs, much shorter than her brother.

|{Build}|
Sarah has a very small, lean frame. She looks breakable but can hold her own. This leanness gives her a somewhat cruel looking edge, especially in the face. She has minimal curves with average breasts.

|{Clothing/Equipment}|
She wears what appears to be a simple outfit, but really her clothing and equipment are designed to combat against Damion's and Stephen's abilities. She wears a black, long sleeve, thick shirt with grey legging like pants that are also surprisingly thick. Although neither are fully Damion-proof, they are strong enough that him grabbing her in any way with his normal amount of toxins on his hands, it will not affect her. She wears combat boots that have a knife in each boot, concealed. She also carries with her large, red sound-proof headphones that connect to a small ipod of her favorite songs. They are headphones to seem non-threatening to Stephen, but really it is to render his ability useless. Same wants her to be able to protect herself if it comes down to a fight because she is a valuable asset and would like to make use of her in the future.




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{"People change and forget to tell each other.ā€}
-Lillian Hellman
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|{History}|

Sarah grew up with her brother Stephen, lived a somewhat normal life apart from being born with the strange ability to control insects. However, her life had a rude awakening when she was 12 and was taken away with Stephen to a facility. They tried to fight the system. They attempted to escape. But in the end Sam had only been playing them. In the end Sam won.

Stephen only thought he had killed his sister. But in reality she had never escaped with him at all. The girl he had rescued from her cell was not Sarah. Sarah was in fact in the other end of the facility, locked away, hidden from Stephen for the rest of her life. No. Stephen had never rescued her. Or shot her. It was all a ploy to break Stephenā€™s resolve.

There never was a girl. There never were bugs to lead Stephen to her cell. There never was blood on the ground from where Stephen had shot her. None of it had happened.

Because it was all an illusion.

Delirium was forced to make it seem as if Stephen had killed his own sister. Why? Because they would have really killed Sarah if she hadnā€™t. To this day Delirium regrets it. But Neither Sarah nor Delirium thought Stephen would ever see Sarah again

In the end Sam simply hadnā€™t been happy with Sarahā€™s powers. Controlling cockroaches? It clearly wasnā€™t enough. So they preformed experiment after experiment and surgery after surgery until she was no longer what she was. They had sharpened her into a point, a tool for them to use.

And now he had a use for this tool. He wanted a reaction out of Stephens. Sam wanted data, he wanted to play games, he wanted to study these people like they were rats. And what better way to do that than send in someone who can read minds and truly see what is going on inside their heads?




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|{Miscellaneous}
She is completely under Samā€™s thumb, but that doesnā€™t mean she is a bad person.

|{Face Claim}
Annalise Basso

Character Dialogue || #8040BF

So begins...

Sarah Winters's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion
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SAM
Sam returned himself to the computer screens and spent most of the time motionless aside from the few scanning motions of his eyes. When Delirium finally emerged from the elevator his eyes narrowed down on the screen to the rebels joint-bedroom. The fiery exchange between the pair pleasantly surprised him. Apparently Whispers wasn't as predictable as he had at first assumed. And then there was Deliriumā€¦..

There was a slight twitch of the corners of his mouth as he reflexively began to smile before he interrupted the instinctive movement. After all that he had forced her through, this was not what he had expected to be the straw that broke her. A trifling appointment with himself and it appeared she was all but ready to give up. Whispers himself appeared to not appreciate the girls new outlook. His little speech to Katherine actually made Sam's eyebrows raise in surprise.

This time Sam didn't attempt to refrain himself from a smirk. Boy did he have news for Stephen. Sarah hadn't died for anything. Though truly he couldn't blame Stephen for not being aware of that. The volume nob was swiftly turned down as soon as Whispers started his strange little mantra of nonsense.

Then Damion jumped in front of Ember, Ember started panicking and tried a little begging-

There was a thudding crash as suddenly Sam's fist slammed into the table surface. They were so damn stereotypical! As Stephen ramped up the volume Sam's anger only grew. Now he was sure Damion and Ember were in too much pain to be able to defend themselves. Whispers would invariably start to drag Ember to the elevator, Damion would make a pathetic half-attempt to prevent it and if Whispers was stupid enough Ember would take any opportunity to get close enough to him to drag the air out of his lungs. Either that or the pale wraith of a girl would end up sent down here. Ordinarily any of those results might have pleased Sam, but not today. They had been predicted. He'd already watched them in his head, and now they were decidedly boring.

"Send Sarah in."

It took a mere second to press the intercom and utter the order, but instantly he felt better. A slight chuckle left his lips. He was so temperamental today and erratic. This wasn't really part of the planā€¦not yet anyway. He'd first planned to have a little fun messing with Ember, or at least watch her murder Stephen before he bought in his pawn. It would be a simple thing to force the dark haired girl to bring Stephen back to see his reaction to his sister. He had even considered using Lydia or Rezia's life for Ember to replenish Stephen, but now all those little plans were naught.

He'd gotten impatient and now he could have the reaction he wanted from Stephen now. Before he decided which Anomaly he should kill off first.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion Character Portrait: Sam Pravus
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#, as written by Haas33
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Sarah stood in the exact center of the elevator, stiff as board. Not because she was scared, no she rarely experienced such a strange emotion anymore. Rather she was stiff because she was tensed for a fight. It would not be in her benefit to be caught off guard the minute she stepped out. Her eyes shifted from the doors to the small rectangular device in her hands. An "ipod" Sam had called it. It was supposed to play music, and indeed it did as a classical piece of music was currently playing in her ears, the only sound heard as the large red headphones mitigated any other sound. It was also a communication device, so that she may send her observations to Sam at the end of each day.

She knew what the purpose of this rectangular device was, though. It was to give these noise-cancelling headphones a purpose, so that she might not seem like a threat to Stephen. Stephen? Where had she heard that name before? The name always seemed to bounce around in her head awhile each time she thought about it. Perhaps it was someone she had known in the facility before. Sam hadn't really told her much about the people he was studying. Just their names and what they could do. She was simply supposed to get a more in depth look on what these people were thinking.

She was worried that these creatures would have too complex of a mind to read. Sam had assured her that he had intentionally kept them all in a state of weakness, either by hunger, injury, or slept depravity to give her too much trouble when it came to reading their minds. Sarah didn't ask questions. She did what she was told.

The elevator shuddered slightly as it came to a halt. The classical music swelled in her ears as the doors slowly opened. Black combat books stepped out of the elevator, with exact precision to each step. Her fingers were ready to snatch her concealed weapons if need be. Immediatly, thoughts zoomed into her head. Anger, pleading, pain, anguish, revenge, injustice, love, protectiveness. They swirled around and she quickly pinned down the thoughts' owners. Her eyes quickly took in the scene with calculated intensity. A young woman with dark hair who must be Ember was standing behind a man with dark hair, looking rather frazzled from Stephen's noise, with her hands to her ears. The dark haired man was Damion, and had his arms outstretched, clearly protecting her from a red haired man. And the red haired man....

There was a slight hitch in her thoughts. A memory, a flash of a monitor screen. Seeing the same red haired man but younger holding a gun. Then it was gone. Stephen. Stephen. The name was jumbling her thoughts and breaking her concentration. She shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake off the name. Her mind returned to the task at hand. She took several more calculated steps forward as the music in her ears began to crescendo, reaching its final climax. She then spoke loudly enough over the racket that everyone could hear here.

"Stephen, I think that is enough."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A


"Stephen, I think that is enough."

Everything went from one hundred to zero in a split second.

He was sure that he recognized the voice before he saw the face, yet everything felt surreal. Who was this girl talking like she kind of knew him? She sounded like she could have been Sarah if she lived to be older, but also not. She spoke the name "Stephen" as if it didn't hold any weight, but was supposed to. There was this false sense of authority (or maybe she believed it to be real) as she told him to cease his power, but the shock from her appearance was enough to silence him. She no longer had the short hair of the past and instead, a mane of wavy hair swept to the side with sprawling bangs. Somehow it gained a a pinkish tint as did her brows. Thin lips supported her gray eyes which held a calculated, yet somehow vacant expression. There too, were a pair of headphones that presumably canceled whatever noises he could throw at her. That was one of the few things that made sense of the situation.

Rather than turn to her immediately however, his anger directed elsewhere.

"Is this a trick?" he yelled, facing Ember and Damion, "drum up one of your mind control friends to try and fuck with me by bringing in this ginger bitch?"

He'd killed her. He remembered every moment, every face from that day.

"Let her go!" he yelled, feeling his face pushed further into the ground.

"Stephen don't let them take me back!"

"So? Are you ready to stop this childish game yet?"

"I'd rather die."

Stephen opened his mouth to screech, but felt the power drained away. They injected him with something or muzzled him or maybe both (the details blurred each time), but no matter what he felt powerless. The motions that Sarah made did nothing to call the insects to her aid. There were only motions by the guards to radio Sam and then...

"Calling him in, roger that! Over."

Stephen's body rose suddenly, feeling as though someone was jerking him around. His hand picked up a gun and pointed it, clicking off the safety.

Except it wasn't him. It was someone else forcing his body, forcing him to be the onlooker as his body shot Sarah dead and to watch her bleed out.

"There are worse things than death Stephen. Please remember that."


He saw everything. He felt everything even as that person controlled his body.

"Or do you just want to prolong this shit so I won't kill your shitty henchmen?" he asked toward the ceiling, "or..."

There was only one person who this all pointed to. There was only one person who could fuck with his brain at the flick of a finger who tried to convince him not to head out and push Ember toward the elevator only some amount of time after returning from Sam's torture. Everything made too much sense for it not to be that way!

"Did he finally get to you? Is that it?" he asked, "you're on his side now? Stephen don't go out there! Stephen I love you! All bullshit to keep me from killing Ember and now you're using Sarah to get to me? I told you everything about what happened that time and you want to resurrect her to fuck with me? Fuck you."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion
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Damions pleading and half concocted plans garnered only more noise and an ever advancing, insurmountable foe. The strain of it all was far to much and Damion all too suddenly dropped to his knees hands clasped to his ears in a desperate though pointless defense. He risked a glance towards Ember who fared little better in the face of Whispers attack.

Once again he had failed her. Whispers would kill her or send her to a fate worse than death itself. All he had done had been wasted. All those lives taken, torture endured all for nothing. All hope was lost he knew it to be true, he would lose Ember and after that what would he do? He couldn't bare the thought of a world without her. Almost unbidden the tears began to stream down his face. He hadn't cried in years not since he took his first life, not since he donned his mask and built his walls. But his walls have crumbled and his mask lost. There was nought he could do when in the face of losing all that gave his life meaning.

He shut his eyes tight as he could unable to look at the results of his failure. Then the noise stopped and for a moment Damion thought he might have been dead. Then he opened his eyes and through the continuous stream of tears he saw a girl. Even now he could tell that she was different and he immediately began wiping his eyes free of tears to properly see here. She was calculating and perhaps a mere prisoner to Sam like everyone else here. Then he looked closer. Those headphones would probably cancel out all of Whispers noise. And her clothes. They covered nearly every inch of her skin and the clothes seemed quite thick with the only truly vulnerable area being her face. Subduing her with toxin alone would be almost impossible and at the moment he was far to weak to fight her with anything else.

Looking at her she seemed to have calculating eyes much like the ones Damion had when he first set foot here, and he wondered for the briefest of moments how long it would take this girl to break. Looking at the situation it seemed that she had some connection with Whispers and she was likely obedient to Sam judging by how prepared she seemed to deal with them. Maybe she was much like Damion and Ember, a poor soul forced into servitude but at the moment it didn't matter. If Sam was sending his own soldiers down here they all needed to work together if they wanted to survive. He risked a glance at Whispers. He was ranting and raving, he looked like he saw a ghost, fortunately he didn't seem to be paying anything else much attention. Even if it meant letting Whispers send both himself and Ember down to Sam they had to find a way to make peace.

Quickly he went about donning his discarded clothes and gloves making him somewhat safe. He walked over to Ember as fast as his tired legs could take him. He leaned down whispering into her ear. "Ember we should take this chance to go. Retreat into our room. Just do anything besides stay here. Besides we need to talk about Whispers task. Even with this he won't stop. We need to know what to do." He offered her his hand trying his hardest to look in better shape than he actually was."Are you alright? Can you get up?" he had to try and get her alone, try and convince her to go down there. It seemed almost impossible in his head, he remembered how frightened she was. It was a fear beyond fear. But it didn't seem like Delirium was dead. Whispers was raving about being betrayed, and there's only one person that could have possibly done the betraying, regardless whether or not it was true he only trusted one person here. If she was alive that meant going down there wasn't a complete death wish at least. There was a chance they could escape alive. Not much of a choice. Go down the elevator and possibly die or stay put and let Whispers kill Ember. But Damion couldn't see any other option.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion
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Damion was shouting something above Whispers noise to prevent him from coming. Fruitless, useless cries. Ember could see it in Whispers eyes, he meant business this time. Rezia had deserted them instantly, taking Lydia into their room. The rat wouldn't come out of his hole to help, Ember was certain of it. Try as she might, crouched down on the floor, both hands clasped to her ears, Ember could no longer see a good solution to this problemā€¦unlessā€¦

Abruptly the high-pitched sound vamped up another level, and this time it hurt. An incomprehensible moaned sentence unravelled from her mouth, though no one could hear her. She'd have to kill him. If he tried to take her she'd make sure her head got close enough to his and that would be the end of it. There was no other option. Her teeth ground together trying to take the edge of the sharp pain at her temples, but she forced herself to prepare, her muscles taut ready to attempt to manoeuvre herself to take Whispers out for good.

"Stephen, I think that is enough."

And blessedly the sound ceased. Fearfully she looked up to see a look of recognition cross Whispers face before he turned to look at the newcomer. The girl was younger than Ember, with an untamed mane of pinkish-red hair. She had a strange resemblance to Whispersā€¦.perhaps relatedā€¦though Ember couldn't be certain of that. What she was more concerned about were those dull grey eyes. Definitely a pawn of Sam. She didn't have any time to make any more deduction as suddenly Whispers had whirled around to berate them.

She shrunk back from the force of his rage, her face an unhealthy pallor, however she didn't dare move a muscle. Even as his mad ravings turned to the ceiling and then to his bedroom Ember remained motionless, as if any movement might bring his wrath back upon her. He was swearing and ranting, obviously this girl 'Sarah' was someone he knew from the past and had not expected to see here. In fact it didn't appear he thought she was real. Please let him remain distracted Ember thought fervently.

Then Damion made a move. If possible Ember looked even more frightened, she gave him a quick jerk of the head begging him not to move. It was too late, he'd already made his way over. If Whispers turned back to them now, he'd have every opportunity to hurt her partner. Damion had already donned all his gear, and his back was to the raving red-head.

He was begging her to leave, to escape to their room. She let her eyes slide over there for a second, sorely tempted. But if they made a run for it, Whispers may just turn back to attacking them. In his current state he was wild and unpredictable.

"He might stop us." She whispered back choking on the words in her fear. "Damion, he's seeking revenge, he won't let us leave."

There wasn't much time, and she knew it. Any second now Whispers may turn back to them. Or this Sarah may be just the distraction they needed. Damion seemed to think so. And there were the knives in their room. They could arm themselves in case they needed to go back out.

She made her choice, taking hold of Damion's hand to make a run for it, praying that Whispers wouldn't intervene before they got there.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters Character Portrait: Damion
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#, as written by Haas33
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Recognition. This man Stephen knew her, or at least thought he knew someone who looked like her. Yet suddenly her name rang in her head, the thought projected to her as if he had spoken aloud. Suddenly anger flared out, spiking as he took in her appearance, her eyes now permanently red as the sudden emptiness of thoughts after Stephen's silence flooded back into her mind. Her eyes were rarely grey, as she couldn't turn off her ability to read minds. When Stephen's mouth stopped moving, she gingerly removed the headphones from her ears and let them rest on her shoulders. The red haired man suddenly became vocal about mind control, and a name flashed across her brain. Katherine.

How did she know that name?

The red head girl much older than her was crying, her shoulders shaking even though she was turned away from the monitor.

"If I ever think he has any suspicious of what really happened, Stephen and Sarah will be killed. This is for your own good, remember?" The voice was cruel and unsympathetic as he spoke into his microphone, probably being voiced into the quaking redhead's ears. Sarah watched the monitor screen silently, the other red haired girl's eyes red as Stephen raise an imaginary gun.


The vision was suddenly not her own, however, as Stephen's thoughts intermingled. Stephen had killed her. Yet she was alive?

"Come with me. You have more potential than just bugs."

Sarah was utterly confused. She would have to tell Sam her initial observations. Perhaps he knew what Stephen was talking about, as she was utterly naive. Stephen's mind was very confusing at the moment, and there seemed to be knowledge about herself that seemed to dance out of her reach. Stephen again started shouting about this Katherine girl, a conversation replaying in his head. Yet Sam had never said anything about a girl named Katherine. Perhaps Katherine used to live in here, but was not anymore. Sam was very certain to explain that there were only five other people, not including herself.

Passion, love, resiliance, and pity suddenly surfaced in the other male named Damion, and she suddenly quirked her eyes in his direction, as she felt sympathy radiate from him, about her. Odd. Why pity her? He seemed very attached to the Ember girl, and would do quite anything to protect her, and it was clear Ember felt the same way. This should be documented, but she had a feeling Sam already knew about this. Love, he had called it. Though he seemed to think it was foolish. Her eyes flickered back to the dark haired pair scheming on the ground. They had knives in their rooms, a fact that Sarah stored away for later use.

"I am not an illusion. My name is Sarah Winters and I am here to stay like the rest of you. I don't know what you mean about killing me, but... I'll..." Her voice faltered, what would she do? She could ask Sam. "I'll get back to you about that," She resumed, in her usual dull voice.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A


When the red-haired girl's eyes faded from red to gray Stephen narrowed his eyes. She may have had eyes similar to those of Sarah, but her powers were no secret. Not to mention she had these weird headphones on her head. What a joke.

"You really thought through this didn't you Katherine?" he asked to no one in particular, "because fuck having anything sacred right?"

He paced around the room, ignoring the fact that everyone cleared the room because he needed to think. He needed to find some way out of the illusion. Well, technically illusions didn't work like that but he'd certainly had his own mental defenses. They just didn't work here for some reason. Everything about her was so detailed, so real and it was unlike anything he'd seen before. Had her illusions always been like this?

No.

He couldn't get caught up in all of that.

"Okay I'll play your game," he decided, picking up on the momentary hitch in her voice.

He approached her, stopping at arm's length so that he could bolt if necessary. He wasn't afraid of others jumping him (they were probably all hiding), but she could very well turn into a fire-breathing dragon, a tiger, or back to the dead body she really was. Hell, he expected bullet holes to start appearing...or stab wounds. The details were none too important. The point was that he ended her with a weapon and he expected her body to reflect that. It would be none too difficult to recreate that scene if she could make an older version of his sister.

"You say your name is Sarah Winters right? Where are you from? Who were your parents?" he asked, leaning toward her, "where are your insects?"

No one who was anyone called him by his real name (Katherine wasn't anyone to him anymore so that was a verbal jab in his favor) so hearing it from this person only pushed him to prod her further. Assuming she was in fact real, was she raised in seclusion? Had they found some lookalike to mess with him? That would surely explain the strange behaviors and lack of recognition. He didn't want to admit that he was coming around to the idea that she might be a real person, a real anything so he did the one thing he hadn't been able to do for a long time. He reached out for her cheek.

"Who am I?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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#, as written by Haas33
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Anger was roiling around inside Stephen like an ocean, yet she still couldnā€™t place why he was so angry. Based on her perceptions, it was something to do with this Katherine girl he kept talking about. Again, her mind was racing to pin down where she remembered that name from. The red head had begun pacing in front of her before stopping finally, close enough that she had a small shred of fear surface in her brain. He seemed very volatile right now and she wasnā€™t sure about being this close. Surely Sam wouldnā€™t want her dead in the first ten minutes.

ā€You say your name is Sarah Winters right? Where are you from? Who were your parents? Where are your insects?ā€ The words jostled her, and she scrabbled around in her brain for answers. It was like hitting a brick wall. Her memories of her past life were shut off to her, locked away somewhere or gone. She didnā€™t know. Yet as he was talking, faces flashed in her mind that she thought might be familiar. Her head let out a spasm of pain, not wanting to remember.

Slowly, as if waking up from a long slumber, an emotion settled in her mind that she was not expected. Sadness. And it was her own sadness. Her face fell, a slight frown playing out on her lips, the only sign that she was feeling any emotion at all. Her vision became suddenly blurry, and she blinked, startled.

ā€Iā€¦ I donā€™t know,ā€ she finally replied. Her face went back to its usual blank slate as she realized he had also asked about bugs. Bugs. Yes she could control bugs, easiest of all. She could likely call a swarm of bees into here right now if she wanted to. Bugsā€™ minds were so simple and easy to control. She could sense them from a mile away. Sam prohibited her from bringing bugs to her while she was with him, as he thought they were annoying and noisy. However, as he was not here, she reached out her mind to the little ladybugs that hid everywhere, both inside and out.

About ten little ladybugs flew in through the air vent in the room and landed on her upturned hand, bustling around together. They stayed in her palm for a couple seconds before flying off again, back to where they had been before. Suddenly, the redhead reached out and touched her cheek, asking one last simple question.

ā€Who am I?ā€ However, at his touch, her mind involuntarily leapt out to his, and latched on. Thoughts swirled around in mass confusion, and she tried to keep hold of the line that led back to herself. Memories swept past, images, feelings, they all collided and she fumbled for any concise order to his thoughts. One word suddenly rang out. Sister
She reeled back in to herself, shutting out Stephenā€™s mind. The brick wall in her mind suddenly had a loose brick. And a small crack let one single memory escape.

She sat cross legged on the floor of a kitchen, Stephen in front of her, much younger than he is now. He grinned broadly and shouted, ā€Do it again! Again!ā€ Her younger self giggled and held her hand out towards the open window in the kitchen. A butterfly lazily flapped in and landed on her fingertips.

Sarah looked into Stephenā€™s eyes suddenly, shock hitting her momentarily.

ā€Youā€™re my brother.ā€

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Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A


"You don't know?"

She didn't know?!

Whispers wanted to erupt in twenty-four new ways, but the sudden call of ladybugs stunned him. How often did he see something like that? Were the ladybugs an illusion too? He'd glanced around the walls and there weren't an holes, cracks, or slits. Everything was sealed in tight as per Sam's orders, yet somehow they flew in. It only fed into his idea that she was an illusion and Katherine-no Delirium devised it to shock him into timidness. His old partner, Katherine, always asked him for permission when it came to casting illusions and they were never like this. Sarah always brought up terrible feelings and he'd long since stopped trying to change the murder.

And yet...

He still touched her face with no hesitation and got rewarded with human skin. His brain flashed with the memories of their past when they still used their powers without a second thought. His parents never really noticed, usually assuming that Sarah had a penchant for bugs and that they had tinnitus (despite doctors saying otherwise). It was their little secret, found out only when Sarah had inexplicably tried to "save" her mom from a spider. At that time things were different, people reacted different. For one reason or another their mother seemed perfectly fine with the discovery sans a long and heavy talk. In his mind's eye he could see the memories flooding back.

"You need to make sure you don't tell anyone about this okay Stephen? There are a lot of bad men out there who want to hurt you and your sister," a thirty year-old woman said, finger wagging back and forth.

"But why do they want us?" At only eight years old Stephen didn't understand much so he could only offer more questions.

"You and Sarah are different, like the X-Men. People don't always like different so you need to be a good older brother and protect her. Got it? Make sure neither of you show anyone what you can do."


And they didn't.

So how did we get caught?

Before the question could be answered, the redheaded girl spoke again.

"You're my brother."

Unlike before, he'd reached his limit on venting his anger. He was, instead, left brimming with confusion and pain. You couldn't fake an epiphany like that, but if that was the case then why now? Rather...

"What happened to you?"

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Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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A haze that had been hovering over Sarahā€™s mind for a long time was clearing away slightly. Clarity was coming in through that small kernel of truth. She had a brother. Has. Stephen. And he is standing right in front of her, pressing his palm to her cheek, such anger and confusing pouring off of him.

Why couldnā€™t she remember anything?

Stephen. This is Stephen. She is Sarah. She was put in here by Sam. There is a girl named Katherine related to this somehow. Who are her parents? Is Sam her parent? Sarah closes her eyes, frustrated, and presses her hand to her head, as if that will shove the knowledge into her mind.

ā€What happened to you?ā€ Stephen says. What had happened to her? Does it really matter? She was here to get research not to find out where she came from. Sam would be upset if she wasnā€™t keeping tabs on the rest of the people here. Who is Sam? Pain lashes out in her forehead, her brain physically unable to keep up with the amount of recall she is making it do with the damage that has been done inside of it.

She smacks her head gently, trying to ease to pain. A tear slides down her cheek. Sheā€™s becoming increasingly more frustrated, and sad. Itā€™s the most emotion sheā€™s shown in weeks. In the back of her mind she canā€™t help but wonder if maybe Sam put her in here to observe her response to finding out Stephen is her brother just to see how her normally placid emotions would react.

ā€I donā€™t know!ā€ She responds, her voice now slightly raised. She takes a step back from Stephen, so that his hand falls away from her face. This man is confusing her. Her brain canā€™t physically take the exertion of trying to recall the memories of him. Her head is beginning to throb and she raises her other hand to her hand, so that her palms rest on her temples and her fingers grip her scalp.

It's ironic really, that she was changed to be able to read other's minds yet she can barely sort through her own.

ā€Who am I?

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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SAM

Sam smirked at the boys confident reply. He hadn't expected Rezia to be so logical and calm about the whole thing. Ordinarily this would have irked him, however something about the ease in which he had managed to tamper with Rezia's morals was stroking his ego.

"If I'd known it was this easy to manipulate you Rezia, we would have been working together much earlier."

The truth was that Rezia hadn't seemed the sort to be able to deal with such a drastic fall from grace. He'd simply assumed the boy would bend and snap under the pressure and he'd end up with two dead Anomalies. It seemed he'd underestimated this silver-haired youth.

"To think I spent so long crushing Ember and Damion's spirits, and all I needed to do was say a few words to get you on board." Sam's eyes lit up with malice. "I will enjoy watching your first murder. Follow me."

He turned and continued down the corridor, taking a few left turns as he did so. As he strode decisively forward, he pulled a small remote out of his pocket and hit one of the small black buttons. Soon he was standing in front of an elevator door.

"And now it's high time I think you fulfil your proposed plan, however I must mention; I had no intention of following your suggestion. Whispers will liveā€¦.for now. However, I'm sick of Delirium, so you will slit her pretty white throat for me. Understood?"

For the most part he talked to the elevator doors, but now he twisted his head around to glance at Rezia.

"I've sent my guards ahead of us. I do hope you don't mind an audience."


With that, his left hand snaked out and grabbed Rezia tightly around the wrist dragging him into the elevator. In one fluid movement his other hand flew forward, jamming a thin finger into the bottom elevator floor button.

"What is your sister going to think."








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The rage didn't die down in her eyes, however now a strong sense of exasperation tempered it out a bit.


"I won't agree to it." Her first words were strong, defiant; but then they dropped in volume."But even if I don't agree, I will never ever hate-"

Without warning an alarm went off in the common area. A feeling of utter horror tore through Ember as abruptly a whole cluster of guards poured into the room. Before she could react, two slammed into her almost knocking her to the floor causing her to cry out in panic. Instinctively she attempted to stab one of them with the knife, however her aim was thrown off with a shout of pain as the one behind smashed his fist into her wrist forcing her to drop the blade. Instantly a strong arm wrapped around her thin waist and a hand clamped over her mouth. She started to struggle before cold steel was placed at her throat. Immediately she froze her frenzied eyes roving around the room.

Damion was now similarly restrained. She sent him a frightened look noting the gun positioned behind his head and the three men ensuring his arms were pulled painfully behind his back. She didn't have much more time to take in the situation before both she and Damion were dragged out into the common area only to find more of the guards holding the others at bay. Delirium had been dragged out of her room with cold steal pressed against her throat. Most of the men had been dispatched to Damion and Whispers. Whispers had six focused solely on him. Two holding his arms, another with a knife also to his neck and a hand over his mouth and three more hovering in case they needed to intervene. Lydia was carried out of her room by one of Sam's medical team, though the guard trailing them couldn't be ignored with the gun he was holding. Sarah was the only one who had been left unrestrained, though one of the men had pulled her next to Whispers.

For a moment nothing happened, all Ember could think of was trying to breath and refrain from struggling when suddenly the elevator opened. Immediately her legs gave way and the guard restraining her was forced to half pick her up from the floor. Sam.. Such a strong wave of panic rolled over her Ember was sure she was going to pass out.

"Well it is nice to see you all in person." Sam's tone was relatively neutral, however his eyes lit up in a flash of pleasure.

He paused for a moment, letting his gaze role over each of the Anomalies in turn, before it rested on Ember.

"Goodness me. Both of you can release her- she's not that much of a threat surely?"

Instantly the knife was removed and the men stepped back causing her to stumble forwards slightly.

"Come here." He barked at her like she was dog, pointing down to the floor in front of him. Trembling she obeyed. As soon as she got close enough he grabbed her chin roughly and dragged her forward within an inch of his face. She blanched, her eyes going almost pure white in her fear. He only laughed at her.

"Close enough to kill me Ember, and yet still completely in submission." He smiled, his cobalt eyes gleaming evilly before he forced her head to the side to follow his own gaze her cheek brushing against his own. Damion was before them and her breath hitched as she began to fear for what Sam planned to do next.

"Don't want your pretty boyfriend to end up with a bullet in his brain do we Ember?"

She tried to ignore him, instead locking her eyes onto Damion's.

"How's the shoulder Damion?"

As if on cue, one the guards immediately slammed his fist down on Damion's injured shoulder. Ember responded with an involuntarily cry as she started forward to go to him without thinking. Automatically Sam's grip tightened harshly on her chin and he pulled her back.

"Don't you dare." His voice was a hiss.

Terrified she complied, her lips pressed firmly together in her effort to refrain from giving him any satisfaction from her begging. Suddenly Sam's arm slipped down her side forcing her closer to him as she went rigid.

"How does it feel Damion?" he asked silkily. "She'll do whatever I want simply to save your skin."

There was a pause and Ember was stuck in Sam's dangerous hands for what seemed like forever before suddenly he thrust her from him. She stumbled at her sudden release before catching herself.

Sam was already moving on.

"Fortunately Ember I'm not here for you. Bring Delirium here."

The guards dragged her before Sam, the knife pointing just underneath her chin.

"Whispers: you have no idea how long I've waited to enjoy this. Ember was of course right in saying I wouldn't dare kill Katherine without you watching and now it appears I have the perfect opportunity."

His reckless grin was abruptly replaced by a dangerous scowl.

"You were a fool Stephen; you should have done as I asked. Why on earth didn't you just drag Ember down? She doesn't respond well to words and discussion- she requires an iron fist and a prod to get her to do anything useful."

He then appeared to forget Whispers existed and instead turned to Lydia's broken form.

"Lydia, your brother on the other hand seems to be quite the opposite. And he's not so taken with the idea of me using such a brutal method on you. As such, I've found a new skill set that I'm quite excited to develop in him."

He turned around to seek out Rezia, before gesturing him over. Ember had been entirely unaware of the healer coming in with Sam.

"I actually gave him a choice on who he wanted to kill. Apparently, Whispers, you were his first option." Sam threw a look over to Stephen again "However, I'm the one running the game here."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Delirium's sleep was rudely awakened by rough hands grabbing her out of bed. She was so stiff from her beating earlier that she didn't even fight back, she just groaned out in pain. They blind-folded her, which seemed redundant as she hadn't even opened her eyes yet. She also noticed a thin piece of fabric covering her hands. Gloves. They weren't taking any chances. A sinking feeling in her stomach made her feel like this was something serious. Rough hands pushed her to the ground and she stumbled, crying out in pain, blindly catching herself. They yanked her back up and pushed her forward. She felt a cold piece of metal press into her throat and she didn't have to guess to know it was a knife.

She assumed they would take her to Sam, but she was surprised when they only led her to the common area. She could tell because there was loud noises of the others being led in. Delirium vaguely remembered that she was barely wearing any clothing, and blushed deeply, halting slightly. The blade cut into her throat, drawing a few droplets of blood, yet she barely flinched. Weak, she drops to her knees in the middle of the room. She senses that there are several other people in here, hears them shuffling around. Then the man of the hour speaks. Sam. Her heart drops into her stomach as her own fears are confirmed.

Today is the day she dies.




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Sarah is trying hard to grab something out of reach, and failing. Digging up her past is like trying to dig a hole with a toothpick; frustrating a unsuccessful. Just as she seems to be finally seeing clearly, an alarm goes off, derailing her train of thought, and that brick in her mind slams back into place. She looks around calmly. Did she do something wrong? Is the building on fire or under attack? Guards suddenly rush in and begin to restrain Stephen. She nods, remembering how dangerous Sam said they were. She steps back and lets them do their job. One of them directs her to where she should stand. She nods and greets him gently, politely asking what is going on. He responds by saying there is a demonstration for research purposes, and that Sam will explain further, and that she is reminded to keep tabs on the thoughts during the demonstration. Sarah thanks him and watches carefully as the others are led in.

Sarah makes a mental note as she recognizes Lydia and Rezia from Sam's notes. However, another girl comes in, one that had been floating around Stephen's thoughts. Katherine. Thoughts are swirling around the room, and per Sam's request she does not monitor his (why would she waste her energies on someone that is not a test subject?). Ember's thoughts are filled with fear for Sam and protectiveness over Damion, mixed with undeniable hatred for Sam as well. Katherine's thoughts are filled with utter hoplessness and defeat. This appears to be the end of the line for her, she has given up on everything, and has accepted defeat. She wants to die. Stephen is angry, confused, a mixture of emotions she can not exactly tap down. She moves on like that through the rest of the people, and even delves into how Rezia perceives the other's emotions.

She begins to realize that this demonstration is an execution. Somewhere deep in inside she feels remorse, yet she does not show it on her face. She looks to the girl kneeling on the ground before Sam, and she is crying. Katherine. A vision flashes again, and she snatches on to it, wanting to remember.

"Stephen will think he killed you. He won't remember exactly. My illusion, it will mess with his head. I don't know what they will do to you Sarah. I'm sorry. You might not remember me, or him. Stay strong Sarah."

She blinks, and the memory is gone. She looks over to Sam, wondering why he kept so much information from him. She turns to the guard next to her and nudges his mind, gently telling him inside his head that she has a lot of information to report to Sam tonight. He nods, slightly irritated, not liking being told in his mind but knowing she shouldn't do it out loud.

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A

Before Whispers could answer the elevator opened and the troops swarmed in.

Unlike the ladybugs that rested gently on Sarah's fingers these guards assaulted and disarmed everyone who wasn't dressed in uniform. Six guards surrounded him alone, provoking him to scream but a swift dive left him restrained, muffled, and on the verge of being slit in the throat. He struggled against the arms of the guards, but stopped when he felt blood trickle down the edge of his knife He couldn't breathe let alone move so he was left to watch as everyone else was brought out. Like him, Ember had a hand around her mouth and Damion had several guards trailing him. Lydia was carried out of his room (no surprise that they didn't take extra precautions) and Delirium? He would be lying if he said he didn't feel terror strike his heart.

Katherine! Instinctively he called her by her first name, something he hadn't done since they stopped speaking. Sure, it may have only been an hour at most but he didn't mean what he said. Not completely. He only yelled at her for trying to defend Ember. For all the terrible words he said he didn't realize that they would be put in this position again. He didn't actually hate her, not really. If things were different he might have told her that he reciprocated his feelings for her. Yet they were here, hanging on by Sam's mercy and soon to be made an example of by him. Whether that meant death or the same treatment they put Ember to was only a matter of time.

Releasing Ember made Stephen's heart drop as he noticed her obedience; she couldn't muster the will to kill him despite being only a breath away. He supposed that she was a lesser example herself. If they died here, their dreams would too.

"You were a fool Stephen; you should have done as I asked. Why on earth didn't you just drag Ember down? She doesn't respond well to words and discussion- she requires an iron fist and a prod to get her to do anything useful."

"Because..." he wanted to say, but he didn't have any words to follow. He'd regretted the fallout since the moment he revealed the truth behind the meeting, but deep down he didn't want Sam to have the satisfaction of sinking so low. He didn't want to help Sam do anything even if it was Ember, his primary abuser. For all that he hated her and wished her death and had visions of dancing upon her corpse (some provided by Katherine) he--in that moment--had a change of heart.

Because I'm not you. And that's not what Sarah would have wanted me to become.

He barely heard the next set of words from Sam's mouth as he turned slowly toward the girl he started to accept as his sister but found her completely free of the Facility's attention. She was free to move. She was free to use her power. Or maybe she was allowed to.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Just like Ember.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Image Lydia was hardly aware of anything when the woman pulled her away from Rezia, but she did reflexively try to reach for him before she was laid on her face on her bed. Cool hands were touching her neck, sweeping the hair away, and she felt the faint prick of an injection between sections of her spine. Almost immediately she felt a numb warmth spreading through her, silencing the connection between brain and muscles. She could hardly move. A bandaid was pasted onto the site of the tiny wound, and then the cool hands moved on, but Lydia was already eagerly allowing her consciousness to slip. She didn't know what was going on, but this was the perfect opportunity to sleep.

What seemed like a heartbeat later, she was being woken up again, someone was speaking by her ear. She blearily opened her eyes, murmuring Rezia's name. Her body still felt heavy and still, she could hardly lift her head at all, but she no longer felt so feverish, and the pain from her back was all but numbed too. Her head rolled to one side as she was lifted up carefully, eyes still only half open as she tried to process the situation. Where was she? Where was Rezia? Where were they taking her? The man carried her with one arm carefully under her back, avoiding the sites of the wounds to prevent them from reopening, and the other under her knees. One arm dangled uselessly, the other tucked against her body. Her head was facing outward, thankfully, as she didn't think she could move it on her own. At least she could see where they were going.

When they exited the room, the first thing her eyes landed on was Sam, which pulled her out of her sleep-glazed fog immediately. Her glassy eyes widened, weak breath hitching in her throat. "Rezia?" she mumbled again, searching for him with her eyes. Was this why he'd disappeared? She vaguely remembered hearing Sam's voice in their room after she was pulled off Rezia... but why? Why had they taken him? She'd done her task, Sam had no reason to hurt her brother.

Sam was talking now, and she had to assume that there were others in the room, but she couldn't see more than their figures in her peripherals, without a way to properly turn her head. Ember came into view for a few moments, stiff as a board as Sam put his hands on her, before being pushed away. And then Delirium was pulled into her line of sight, a knife to her throat, wearing nothing but her underwear. The first thought that came to Lydia's confused, panic stricken, and groggy mind was that the girl was surprisingly more curvy than she'd realized. She didn't look as wasted as the blonde knew her own body did. The girl swallowed the moment of irrational jealousy as the red-head fell to her knees.

Then things started clicking. Had Whispers not finished his task in time? Did that mean Delirium was going to die? Lydia felt her throat well up with sadness. Delirium had been nice to her. She'd tried to save her, only to be stabbed in the back. She didn't deserve this. Lydia's attention was pulled from the girl quickly, however, by a pair of blue eyes fixing on her. She didn't...she didn't understand what he was saying. Was...Rezia going to kill Delirium? But why? He'd never killed anyone before. They didn't even have offensive powers. What was the point of weaponizing him? Other than to laden guilt onto his psyche?

And then all of a sudden Rezia was within her field of view. Lydia stared at him, the slim muscles in her neck standing out as she strained to move to little avail. "Rezia!" she cried out, feeling her heart throbbing in her chest. But what could she say to him? Don't do it? What would that bring about? Then Sam would just kill the two of them, wouldn't he. She wouldn't mind it so much, her own death, but she didn't want Rezia to hurt. He was too precious, too kind. He'd be corrupted by this, she knew. Killing was something he'd never be able to wipe from his conscience. She didn't want him to hurt that way. But what choice did they have? And she knew, despite any pleading on her part, he would rather kill someone else than let her die.

She hardly heard Damion's outburst, her eyes were focused on Rezia unwaveringly, despite the tears building against her bottom lids. Tears of grief, tears of hopelessness and panic, tears of fear. What if this made him a monster? Would he still be her brother if he was a killer? She understood, she really did, and she'd love him no matter what, but what if she wasn't strong enough to prevent herself from flinching when he moved towards her after this? What if she couldn't swallow this fear?

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Rezia stared at Sam. Easy to break? Maybe, but it seemed that Sam didn't realize that he was already broken. He had broken his spirit a long time ago. Maybe that was why he didn't truly care about the others. He only cared about Lydia and yet he himself had considered ending her life just so she could escape this life. How much more could he or Lydia break? And he found it hilarious that Sam said he hadn't realized how easy it was to manipulate him. Really? Both he and his sister had been doing what he wanted every time he asked it of them. He highly doubted Sam didn't know. Was he trying to goad him or something? Sam never did get much of a reaction out of him. Maybe that was what he was looking for now.

Rezia's eyes did widened however when Sam told him he was going to kill Delirium and not Whispers. He wasn't all that surprised that Sam wasn't going to let him kill Whispers, but Delirium? He thought Sam would want her to stick around a while. His first guess was that he would want to provoke Ember and Damion into something. Delirium had been far from his mind. Maybe this was the consequence of her going down instead of Ember. Shit. He didn't want to kill Delirium. This was really going to suck.

But wait! There was more. There was always more. Rezia's heart just about stopped when he realized he was going to have an audience. Damn it! Damn it damn it! How was he supposed to do this with an audience? It was going to be hard just with Delirium and Sam watching! He took a step back in his surprise but Sam then yanked him into the elevator. More than ever before he felt like a jack-rabbit cornered by hungry wolves. There was no way out of this. His heart was fluttering so hard and so fast, he could almost swear it was a humming bird slamming around in there, not a heart. He tried to control his breathing, not wanting Sam to get the satisfaction of seeing him this flustered and scared though he knew he couldn't hide his shaking.

Sam then of course had to mention his sister as if he wasn't flustered already. "L-Lydia?" Oh no! Sam was going to have Lydia watch this? His heart dropped. He didn't want his sister to see this. She didn't deserve to see her brother turning into a monster. And there was no way out of this now. It was going to be either Delirium or Lydia. He couldn't make Whisper's mistake and refuse. If he did, Sam was going to do something worse to Lydia, just like he was doing to Delirium. Tears filled Rezia's eyes for a moment and the elevator ride felt altogether too short and far too long. Rezia quickly blinked away the tears as the elevator doors slid aside. And he may have had his own ideas of the scene he would find himself but it was far worse than his own imagination, sad to say.

All around the room, people were lined in a circle like a standard execution. Damion... Ember... Whispers... Lydia...Everyone was bound save for one girl. He did not recognize the girl with the red hair but she resembled Whispers. He thought Whispers only had one sister. Or so he had assumed. Was this another sister? He swallowed hard but his mouth and throat were still too try in his anxiety. No one had noticed him yet. Rezia watched a bit horrified as Sam turned Ember into all but a whimpering doll. Her pain and fear was as plain as day. He was happy no one was looking at him though. He didn't want their haunting gazes. Especially Lydia's. He slowly moved behind Sam to try and keep himself hidden as long as possible. Their emotions were thick but they were far more stable when not aimed at him.

That didn't last long however. Like usual, Sam seemed to know what you wanted and what you didn't want. "Lydia, your brother on the other hand seems to be quite the opposite. And he's not so taken with the idea of me using such a brutal method on you. As such, I've found a new skill set that I'm quite excited to develop in him. I actually gave him a choice on who he wanted to kill. Apparently, Whispers, you were his first option." Whispers was going to kill him. Whispers was absolutely going to kill him. Sam had just sealed his fate. Not only was Whispers going to murder him because of Delirium, but also for his comment. Whispers was going to see him as a threat and his enemy worse than Ember or even Damion since he was the one actually here to kill Delirium. Lydia was going to be left to fend for herself. He didn't doubt that Sam was going to let Whispers have at him at some point. He was a bit surprised when Whispers didn't even look at him though. His eyes were focused on Delirium and the red head. Maybe for now, he had escaped notice but he was sure that Whispers would eventually aim his ire at him when Sam gave him the knife.

Rezia fidgeted where he stood, now in the spotlight of the situation. He could feel everyone's stares and each one felt like a brand. He was a bit surprised when Damion came to his aid. Or at least tried to. He looked over at the other man and tilted his head to the side. Why would he try to spare him Sam's game? They had a rare moment to just talk and connect but there was no reason for Damion to try and defend him and risk his own life or even Ember's. They weren't friends. It was touching however and he wished he could say something to Damion, but he didn't trust the situation. He didn't want Sam to make this whole event worse than it already was. He was already having a hard time dealing with all of this.

His eyes fleetingly danced over to Lydia when she called his name. He was afraid of what he would see there, what he would feel coming from her. He could already feel the anger, the fear, the despair coming from everyone and some of it was aimed at him but most of it was towards Sam which was understandable but no less burdening. All of the emotions were already weighing him down and he could feel his stability teetering on the edge. He couldn't handle their emotions and everyone else's emotions on top of that. Then his gaze dropped to Delirium's feet. He couldn't even look up at her. "I am so sorry Delirium..." he barely breathed. It wasn't fair that he had to kill the one person besides his sister he would have called friend. Tears rimmed his lashes and he just stood beside Sam, waiting for the final play. Was Sam getting one execution or two?

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Sarah shifted uneasily on her feet. So much emotion was clouding the room, and though she filed it all away, each person having their own folder of thoughts and feelings, she didnā€™t understand it. She didnā€™t mentally or personally understand why Ember felt so much remorse over her life and how it was now being reflected upon Rezia. She simply felt the waves of sadness wash over her, and Sarah recoiled from them.

Her mind couldnā€™t comprehend the dark labyrinth that was Damionā€™s mind. She was almost stuck inside of it, as he was. It hurt to read his mind, and she pulled away. She felt wetness in her eyes and again began to wonder if maybe her body was reacting when her mind wasnā€™t.

Her throat felt dry, and she suddenly had the urge to flee the room. No, she didnā€™t want to see someone die. Killing was bad, she knew killing was bad, even if it was for scientific reasons. This was hurting people. Clarity flashed across her mind, lancing through her brain. She nearly cried out in pain, but she merely flinched, and then regained her composure.

She looked around, truly looked around, and wanted to drown in her sorrow. She saw the man she hated, and the brother that she loved. She had to do something had to stop this execution. It was wrong. A cruel voice in the back of her mind whispered Itā€™s for science. They are going to die anyway. She needed to do something while she could still think straight. Gently, she reached out to Stephenā€™s mind.

Stephen, please donā€™t react. I donā€™t have much time, I donā€™t think clearly for long. I donā€™t remember anything. I- Sarah recoiled as Samā€™s voice suddenly rang out

ā€This close to torturing her to death.ā€ Sarahā€™s thoughts rattled around, her train of thought lost, already she could feel her mind slipping. She looked back to Stephen, but already she couldnā€™t remember what she had been talking about. Her mind went blank, and so did her face.

She went back to documenting thoughts of those around her. Her damaged mind wasnā€™t good for much else. In the back of her mind she might think that maybe it had been made for that reason. She didnā€™t react as a knife was put into the hands of Rezia.




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Kill me. Please kill me. Please just do it. Over and over the words tumbled in Deliriumā€™s head. She was nearly crumpled on the ground, restrained but she didnā€™t need to be, she was too weak to fight back anyway. Sam was finally going to kill her. End her miserable life.

Her stomach turned over, however, as a name was called out. Rezia. Rezia would kill her. Not that she would care who ended her. She knew it was over. Her wild spirit had finally been crushed. But this would destroy Rezia. And Lydia was here. Sam was trying to break all of them to pieces. Delirium wished she wasnā€™t blindfolded, if only so she could communicate with Rezia, or attempt to create an illusion for him, so he wouldnā€™t have to see Lydiaā€™s face during this.

However, she was completely incapacitated, and could do nothing but wait for the bite of the knife against her throat. She completely ignored what Sam and all the others were saying. It didnā€™t matter anymore. Nothing really mattered now. Delirium began to silently cry.

ā€I am so sorry Delirium..ā€ She heard Rezia say. Delirium attempted to reach out to him, but the guards stopped her.

ā€Stay strong Rezia.ā€

ā€Iā€™ve had enough of this. Slit her throat open. Now.ā€

It is sad to think that all her life has surmounted to this. She never had a family, never had a normal life. Just this twisted version of life that Sam created.

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A


The realization hit him in waves.

It first started with the connection that Ember and Sarah were both free of the guards that held back everyone else. The implication of Sam's words (or rather, his lack of them) toward Sarah versus Ember who received an earful. Was she a dog like one of them? Was she one of those weak anomalies whose resolve couldn't hold against Sam's torture? He hated the thought. He couldn't conceive it. Sarah had been his rock for so long and her memory for even longer. To think that all this time she'd been broken too didn't make sense. If she had a breaking point would he as well?

More importantly what hand did she have in everything that has happened since?

Has she killed like these two have? Is she secretly a Dark One too? He bit back the urge to fight out of the guards' grasp and instead, locked eyes with Delirium who had been dragged outside for this spectacle. He shattered any trust he had in the redhead but with everything that happened he would not have been surprised if she played a role of her own. He had so much he still wanted to ask and here he was watching her die.

The second wave told him something simple; he was selfish.

After Sarah "died" he tried to turn Katherine into her replacement yet as soon as she showed signs of weakness he discarded her love. Worse yet, he'd said all of those terrible things and trusted Sarah at the first utterance of "brother" as though Katherine didn't matter anymore. Now that she was about to die he wanted nothing more than to have her back--to beg for her forgiveness because he knew that losing Sarah once was enough. He couldn't bear the pain of another execution.

I'm sorry Katherine. I'm sorry. For the first time in years he felt tears welling in his eyes and a weakness in his body from the pain Sam made him relive.

Stephen, please donā€™t react. I donā€™t have much time, I donā€™t know think clearly for long. I donā€™t remember anything. I-

The third wave hit in the form of Sarah's voice, something that despite his best abilities could not suppress his reaction. His muscles tensed with a mixture of anger and hope. Telepathy? She had telepathy now. She was also still "there" in the smallest bits. She might have been broken, but perhaps he could fix it--no they could fix it if they managed to escape. He kept his eyes on Katherine, but now thinking of some way to save her. If he were lucky Sarah could break free again or perhaps Rezia would go after Sam instead. He and Damion were too frozen to be of use but there needed to be a third option.

He had to pray that one of them would find it.

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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'What the hell do you even gain by turning this kid into a murderer you sadistic devil?'

'Rezia?'

'Stay strong Rezia!'

'I am this close! This close to torturing her to death!'


Rezia's head was spinning as the words ran in his ears over and over again as Sam thrust the cold steel into his hand and shoved him towards Delirium. He felt so sick to his stomach but even he couldn't tell what the cause was. Everything inside of him was seesawing. His own trepidation and disgust with the situation was overwhelmed by all the emotions in the room. They were a torrent berating the fringes of his senses and mind. Rezia was going around and around on an invisible merry-go-round and he was getting dizzier by the second. Was he hyperventilating? He couldn't focus on anything and every time his eyes did settle on one thing, someone else's emotions whisked him away. He couldn't find anything to center on to try and calm his mind. He just... he just needed something to cling to and rise his head above it but no one was letting that happen and the overwhelming feeling was beginning to suffocate him.

Sorrow, fear, pity, anger, disgust, horror.

It was rampant. Rezia's eyes filled with tears, his body beginning to shake from the overwhelming emotions coming from everyone. He squeezed his eyes tight and he bent forward, his hands flying up to cover his ears. He needed the music. He needed the music but there was none here he could use as an escape. It was the only noise that was ever loud enough to block out the 'voices' of emotion that flooded him. The tears now ran on his face, his heart rattling in his chest and boiling his blood. He couldn't escape it as it threatened to drag him down into the black hole he never wanted to return to but there was no stopping it.

"S-stop...." he whispered. "Please...I-I c-can't..." but no one took notice of his little please. The emotions were just getting worse. Even Damion's emotions had become directed at him, his anger and fear at Sam... And then Delirium herself was pitying him. She wasn't worried about herself at all. Rezia barely cut off the cry that threatened to bubble up. He forced his eyes open and he glanced up, his eyes locking up Delirium's open and tortured gaze.

"ā€Iā€™ve had enough of this. Slit her throat open. Now,ā€ Sam fueled.

His anger spiked through Rezia, and the poor boy squeezed his eyes shut. "STOP IT!" he cried out. His mind locked onto Delirium as she was the closest person to him and his eyes opened to lock their gazes as his powers reached towards her mind. This time, instead of pulling away all the negative emotions out of Delirium, Rezia's eruption of power tore through the woman's mind like wolf ravaging a kill. It thrashed the woman's mind and Rezia took the positive emotions inside Delirium's mind. And once the power had been unleashed, Rezia couldn't stop or pull away from her. By the end of it, Rezia felt... different. The emotions were still swirling, but it wasn't the negativity he was used to. It was bubbly and cheerful and he felt so alive. He almost felt rejuvenated. The multitude of emotions bubbled up inside of him and Rezia found himself laughing in elation. It was almost maniacal and he couldn't stop. His eyes were suddenly a vibrant gold as if he had been well rested enough to return to his full strength. He couldn't understand what was happening. All he knew was that for the first time in ages he felt happy. He felt happy and excited and full of energy. He liked this feeling.

Then he remembered where he was and what was happening. When he blinked, he still had the widest grin on his lips and little chuckles escaped him like he was high. His eyes settled on Delirium and his eyes widened. The smile faded and he just stared at her. Delirium was staring at him but her gaze was vacant. There was nothing there. No emotional flicker or recognition on her face. He had ripped away all her emotions and left behind nothing more than an empty shell. Katherine was gone.

"D-Delirium?" he called and waved a hand in font of her face. There was absolutely no response. "What... what have I done?" he asked softly, shell shocked. New emotions were rising. Fear and guilt at the elation he still felt even now faced with a Delirium he had destroyed mentally. He had never felt such power before. He never knew that he could do something like this. What was this going to mean for him here on out? Rezia slowly raised the knife he was still holding and pressed it against Delirium's arm and left a small scar just to see if he would get a reaction out of her but there was nothing. She really was dead while awake... a zombie. That was the only word he had for this new state before him.

What have I done? And why am I so happy about it?

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Rezia only looked at her for a few moments. His face was taut with obvious distress. She felt her own heart thudding in her chest, bouncing closer and closer to her throat, as if it were intending to suffocate her. How could he do this to Rezia? They always did what they were told; they never caused trouble, so why? What had they--what had he--done to deserve this? Lydia swallowed, trying to push her heart back down into her chest where it belonged, but she still struggled to breathe, her eyes fixed on Rezia. She didn't want to look, but she knew she had to.

So helpless...

A flash of silver signified a blade changing hands. Now Rezia was holding it. His body shook. Tears streamed down his profile, and Lydia felt tears burning on her own lower lids in sympathy for her brother's pain. He was doing this for her. She wished she could rein herself back, give him something calm to hold on to, but her own thoughts were eating their tails, circles and circles of fear and despair. She saw his mouth move, some small, quivering sounds emerging that she couldn't hear from her distance, over the rush of blood in her ears. Then Sam made his imperative.

Rezia cried out in anguish, a plead to stop. Why was this happening? Why them? They'd never done anything wrong. She wanted to go to him, do anything but hang limply in the arms of one of the security personnel and watch her brother struggle.

Then his body shifted slightly. She'd seen it happen enough to know that he'd accidentally connected with Delirium's mind. Silence. Silence. Silence. Then, all of a sudden, a sound. Laughter. Rezia was laughing? A waterfall of giddy sounds tumbling from him. He sounded relieved. Delirium wasn't moving. What was going on? What had he done? A flash of gold told her that his eyes were filled again--he'd been rejuvenated. What had he done? What had he done to her? Horror filled Lydia's chest and throat, pooling in her mouth. She couldn't speak, couldn't call out to her brother as she put together what must have happened.

He'd killed her. He'd killed her. He'd killed her with his mind, and it somehow restored his power. Which meant he had the power to kill. Lydia could hardly see though the blur of tears and the fear spinning through her. What was this? What was he? She wanted to vomit. Was that her brother?

His laughter, which had died down to occasionally hysterical giggles, was completely gone now. She could hear his voice speaking, but she couldn't hear what he was saying through the muzzy haze within her mind. She was breathing loudly, almost gasping for air, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. She dropped her eyes to the ground; she didn't want to look anymore;she didn't want to be here anymore. Maybe this was all a dream? A bad, bad dream. This wasn't Rezia. It would have been one thing if he'd used the knife, but he hadn't, he hadn't, and he'd laughed. It had made him feel better. That was the most terrifying thing.

The expression she'd seen on his face the moment before tears clouded her vision was one of elation.

Was that her brother?

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Sarah Winters
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A


Rezia's eyes lit with a euphoria unlike anything Whispers had seen--save for Sam's sadistic pleasures. Gaiety, lust, thrill, they all contrasted the gray male's normally dead irises. He was sure the man had never felt anything close to that since he'd arrived at the facility.

Yet, there was Katherine. Dead in spirit and now soul? He couldn't tell what was and wasn't an illusion anymore. He wanted to think that maybe, just maybe she and Rezia thought up a plan. They had something of an agreement before so how was this different? Surely Katherine, with all of her grit and practicality had thought of something. With each event that transpired he felt himself clinging on tighter and tighter to the past iterations of his friend, forged from circumstance and shared belief in escaping. They were supposed to be the ones who would make it out over anyone else, if not for Stephen then for Sarah.

"Just to make sure this isn't some sort of trickā€¦you can come over and say hi. I'm not a fool Whispers, make one move that I don't like and you can rest assured this time I will make a point of actually killing your sister."

In honesty Whispers wasn't sure why Sam was worried. All he had were ghosts. Katherine's dull eyes reflected her motionless body while Sarah, devoid of personality stood by Sam. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, hoping that amidst all of the silence he would find some evidence of it being an illusion. Katherine always used to ask permission. Even if that didn't seem to be the case anymore he wanted to think that he could find something to tip him off.

"Go on. I want to make sure she's as empty as she appears."

No such luck.

Instead the guards released their choke hold and removed the knife from his throat (though not without leaving a tiny cut) before stepping back. Stephen rubbed his neck and wiped it on his shirt as he approached Katherine. He grabbed her hand, relieved by the warmth but simultaneously alarmed by the lack of response.

"Katherine?" he whispered, almost inaudible, "are you still here?"

His hand trailed from her hand to her shoulder, stopping at her cheek. The lump in his throat swelled but he swallowed hard to prevent Sam from relishing in his pain.

"Please, just say something!" he yelled, there's no way that you would die so easily from just that"-he gestured to Rezia-right?"

Her next words would decide his fate because if it really were the case that she was dead then there would be no one to stop him from taking down Sam. He'd have nothing else to live for after all.