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Lucent Singularity

The line between Madness and Vision is quite thin indeed

0 · 242 views · located in Post Apocalypse

a character in “The Search for Genesis”, as played by Mosswine Leader

Description

Image

Name: Lucent Singularity

Height: 5' 5"

Weight: 121 Lbs.

Blood type: AB-

Hair color: Clear (but it can change to any color)

Eye color: White (but it can change to any color)

Skin color: Pale white

Left or Right handed: Ambidextrous

Tattoos: None

Scars: Surgical scars at various points around her torso

Typical style of dress: Anything loose and flowing

Weapons carried: None

Miscellaneous equipment carried: None

Gift/Curse: Gifts-Does not need to eat/drink/sleep. Can produce her own light in any color. Can manufacture new implants using the machine that replaced her stomach. Skin is similar to kevlar in strength. Curses-Severe, crippling Achluophobia. Schizophrenia.

So begins...

Lucent Singularity's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hannity Rosa Character Portrait: Alphonse Tyric Character Portrait: Jakwil Morgan Character Portrait: Lucent Singularity
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"Ugh! So bored! We've been walking for days and haven't seen anything! When is something fun gonna happen?" Draped over her husband's enormous back, Hannity kicked her feet against him, bemoaning the lack of interesting features in the endless grassland they found themselves patrolling through. Alphonse deigned not to respond from his perch on Jakwil's other shoulder, instead maintaining his vigil silently. An enormous sigh rumbled from deep within the plodding giant, gently shaking the pair with the vibrations.

"Hush, darling. I am sure the Prophet knows what she is doing. We have yet to be steered wrong by her, have we?" asked the giant, his bass further jostling his companions with its strength. Ahead of them, their leader skipped and pranced through the grass, aimlessly meandering back and forth while singing tunelessly. Hannity hmmed, unsure. While she owed a lot to the Mad Prophet, she couldn't bring herself to pledge herself blindly to the woman as her husband had. The woman was simply too erratic for her taste.

"No, I suppose not. It's just...Jakwil, the woman loses her mind every night! Moreso than usual, I mean. You're sure she's the route to this mystical 'salvation'? She can't save herself from a measly shadow! I jus-" Her complaints died in her throat with Jakwil's withering glare, suddenly abashed. Before the pair could devolve into another argument about the subject, Alphonse tapped Jakwil on the head with his palm, gesturing towards the sunset. On the horizon, a small town beckoned to them, backlit by the failing light.

"Prophet!" barked the giant. When she turned to him questioningly, he jerked his head to the west, indicating his desire for her to move in that direction. She followed the direction of his nod and chirped in delight, glad to not have to spend the night out in the open again. Taking off at rapid skip, Lucent Singularity soon outpaced her troupe. Jakwil growled in displeasure, ever the faithful watchdog unhappy to be distanced from his master. "Hold on to Alphonse, dear. We are going to move much faster." Hannity barely had time to straddle his neck and grab hold of her friend before her towering husband broke into a knuckling bound, propelling himself on hands and feet to keep up with their 'salvation'. By the light, the woman could move when driven! Jakwil's enormous lungs heaved like bellows by the time he'd caught up with her on the edge of the town.

Once they'd gotten closer, Alphonse made a noise of trepidation. The town had been hit by a heavily armed group, probably raiders or a Bloodhound Corps, judging by the amount of dead littering the streets. It was fresh too, probably not more than a day or two ago. Moving in front of Lucent, Jakwil plucked his companions from his shoulders and set them down gently.

"You two sweep the town. Make sure it is clear. I will remain with the Prophet...and eat." Hannity gazed at her husband with concern. She realized that he hadn't eaten in a few days, and was surely starving.

"Of course, honey. I'm sorry we didn't have anything to bring with us since the last stop. We'll be back really soon," reassured the woman, pulling her husband's face down for a kiss. Turning to Lucent, Hannity put a hand on her shoulder. "Lu, stay here with Jaky, okay? We'll be right back." Lucent nodded, edging closer to her guardian nervously. She'd noticed how rapidly the level of sunlight had dwindled and was growing anxious, though the comfort of Jakwil's tree-trunk arms aided her in maintaining a level of reasonable sanity. Satisfied, the remaining two moved out to sweep the charred husk of a once thriving village, weapons at the ready.

An hour of carefull searching later, Hannity slung her rifle back over her shoulder. "Town looks clear, Alphonse. We should get back to the others. I'm sure Lu's losing her mind right now. Hate to leave Jaky with that for long." Alphonse shot her a disapproving glare, not exactly comfortable with Hannity's constant derision of their leader, though he was shamed for deep down he felt similar. They'd only been with the woman for a scant few months, though. Maybe she just took a very long time to warm up to others. Finally, he relented with a nod, lowering his arms and following the team doctor back towards the other half of their group.

Jakwil sat crosslegged with Lucent curled up in his lap. A neat pile of clothing lay folded next to him on one side, and a less neat pile of gnawed bones on the other. Five people's worth, from the looks of it. The giant himself was chewing on a femur, scraping every last vestige of meat from the bone daintily. Once he'd finished with the morsel, he placed the bone on the pile and turned to the next one, though he hesitated when he spotted his wife and friend approaching. Hannity waved him on with a cheerful smile, giving the all clear signal.

"This place is a ghost haunt, baby. We've got our pick of any house in the bunch. Once you're full up, we should move to a more secluded spot and set up camp." She hesitated for a moment. "I'll take first watch. You should get some sleep. I know the march has been hard on you." Jakwil smiled in relief as he picked up the lower half of the leg he'd been devouring and started on it.

"C'mon, Lu!" grunted the doctor as she took their radiant leader by the hand and pulled. Lucent climbed to her feet, eyes darting around fearfully and grimacing as she tried to increase the brightness of the light she was radiating. "Lu, stop it. We'll get in one of these houses and set up a fusion lamp, okay? You don't need to strain yourself like that. Let's go." Wandering down the street, the trio picked a small-ish house on the right side of the street and darted inside. A few minutes later, the warm orange glow of a fusion lamp shone through the windows. They'd just begun settling down and unpacking their things when Jakwil squeezed his enormous bulk through the groaning doorframe, warping the wood with his passage. He took his place against the doorframe, blocking it with his body. Hannity sat across from Alphonse, every so often putting chunks of ration bar into his mouth, though she turned to blow a kiss to her husband as he sat down and heaved a great sigh of relief.

"You missed a spot, honey," she teased, pantomiming wiping the corner of her mouth. Jakwil blinked in surprise and imitated her motion, wiping an errant bloodstain from the corner of his mouth and frowning in distaste. He hated his curse, but the group's view of it as acceptable eased his conscience greatly. "In the morning we should see about salvaging anything we can find. Maybe we can rest up here for a couple days before setting out again. I, for one, am not eager to hit the trail so soon." The group murmured their agreement in unison, even Lucent, which elicited looks of surprise from the others.

Raising her hands defensively, the woman smiled. "Even I needs ta rest me bones e'ry once a spell. I's just as 'uman as th' rest o' ye." Alphonse chuckled through a mouthful of ration. Lucid Lucent was fun to be around. Her charming lilt and quick wit definitely did wonders to raise the group's morale. They all made idle chatter for another hour before Jakwil and Alphonse drifed off to sleep, leaving Hannity alone to watch over Lucent. She lounged in her husband's lap, ear to his chest and listening to his massive heart beat slowly.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hannity Rosa Character Portrait: Alphonse Tyric Character Portrait: Jakwil Morgan Character Portrait: Lucent Singularity Character Portrait: Tempest Toril
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The last three days were the most horrible in memory. Learning that her husband was dead and waking up after the attack only to find that Ellen was no longer by her side were two of the most devastating things that Tempest could have possibly thought could ever happen to her.
She wasn't sure where she was when she'd finally stirred. She'd ended up on the top of a pile of rubble and woke up to feel her face red and sunburned, a few vultures clicking curiously at her leather boots with their large hooked beaks. Her movement alone was enough to shock and shoo them away as she slowly propped herself up on her elbows. Her stomach muscles felt like they were on fire. Her lips were chapped and just the tip of her tongue touching against her teeth made her wince with pain. But it was when she looked through her thirst-blurred vision for long enough to comprehend that Ellen was there was when she finally forced herself up, skittering off of the high pile of rubble.

"Ellen..." she scratched out haphazardly. "Ellen... Ellen, it's Mommy. You can come out now."

No sign of little Ellen.

No footsteps. No lost shoes. Not even any blood.

Vanished. Without a trace.

She stumbled from what had been their chicken coop and proceeded to wander around the place she'd called home for the last ten years. At first she wondered if sun sickness had poisoned her vision and played tricks on her--several buildings had been flattened or scattered around like blocky dust particles. A few of the larger structures still stood, but perhaps just barely. What had been a quiet but bustling small pocket of commerce in the middle of nowhere was now virtually a sizable crater, not worth a second glance to the passing stranger except to gawk over any theories about what this place may have been one day.

Tempest lost count of the number of hours she'd spent standing in place, revolving between silently crying non-stop tears, streaming down her face, and coping with near-paralysis of her thought process. Her torn lavender robes fluttered behind her in the warm wind.

Finally, at dusk her stomach loudly talked her into finding something to eat. She pulled her sunburned arms around herself, willing her body to stay warm enough to find food and shelter. Forcing herself to step along, she uneventfully uncovered a few boxes of dehydrated meals where the open-air market had been. She'd go back the next day to check on if there was more to be found.

In the meantime, she silently made her way to the next-most-solid structure left in the town: a set of three houses that must have gotten cover from the town square, left in a heap of stone within a remarkably short distance away. Pulling herself up through the broken levels of the house in the center, she hid herself in the attic, still left mostly intact. The house now more resembled a barn with a loft than something where people had inhabited and lived their days in and out of for untold years.

What a sad destruction of a legacy. Shelter was a difficult thing to achieve in this day and age. Particularly of fine craftmanship, as this house had been. Tempest observed the very fine woodwork as she settled down on the leftover remnants of a metal-framed bed and snapped open the boxed meal. She gratefully drank down the liter of water included with it, automatically feeling far better than she'd been feeling for the past several hours.

It didn't take her long to drift off to sleep, her mind burying itself into a free-fall of blank space.

# # #

When Tempest awoke again, it was dusk. She wondered if she'd only slept for a few moments, but a quick glance up at the sky showed her that the sun was in a different position than it had been in when she'd drifted off. It was just slightly less than 24 hours after her body and brain had shut down for some badly-needed rest.

More disturbing was the low din of voices down below, the sound of meaty munching breaking up the noise every now and then. Tempest held fast. How did she miss this band of people entering the small house? She kept still, shaking just a little as she struggled to keep her muscles frozen in place.

For the next several hours, even long after everyone had fallen asleep (even the lightly-clad woman resting against the giant man was dozing off intermittently), Tempest locked her body in place, not daring to breathe barely above a shallow whisper or let any electric impulse move her body even a hair's width. She'd wait for as long as she had to.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hannity Rosa Character Portrait: Alphonse Tyric Character Portrait: Jakwil Morgan Character Portrait: Lucent Singularity Character Portrait: Tempest Toril
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Having passed a long, uneventful night, the crew was glad for daybreak to finally be upon them. Lucent, Alphonse and Hannity decided to take the day to explore the town more fully and maybe salvage some goods. Jakwil elected to stay behind and block the door to their temporary house, waiting outside with his back to the doorframe like some sort of huge boulder. He amused himself with a bit of bonecraft, whittling away at a few of the knucklebones he'd saved with a small pocketknife he carried in his duffel. It would have made for an amusing sight, had there been anyone around to witness it. A giant fiddling with objects so small they were almost lost in his hands, though truth be told, Jakwil was the only one in the group capable of such a delicate task. Hannity had no skill with handicrafts, Alphonse's hands were useless, and Lucent couldn'd be bothered with that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was taking their time exploring the marketplace. Hannity confirmed the nature of the attackers as Bloodhound Corps, finding a total of four corpses bearing Bloodhound emblems.

"Eugh. Doberman Company. Nasty piece of work. I feel worse for this little town than I did last night..." Fortune smiled upon her, though, as she found a few weapons on them, as well as a good amount of ammunition for said weapons. Lucent's sudden wild hollering drew the doctor's attention. Their leader had happened upon a sword and was swinging it about wildly, making all sorts of foolish noises while Alphonse looked on with a large grin that spread to Hannity as well.

# # #

Tempest remained huddled under the sheets in the bed on the upper level of the damaged home. She'd been scared, frozen in place, for several terror-laced hours. She didn't know what to make of the colorful quartet... of their language, their clothing, anything. For all she knew, they could have been worse than what hit them in the first place...

... but she had to move to safety. Her body was going to shut down if she stayed in place much longer. She was hungry, thirsty, sunburned, and completely at a loss for what to do. Her whole body ached under the weight of the days that preceded.

Tempest knew that the large man with the deep voice was posted by the front door, amusing himself with something. She kept her eyes ahead, letting his spot remain in her peripheral vision. She quietly descended from the sleeping pallet and gently made contact with the floor on all fours, making just the slightest, most undetectable noise on the floorboards. She let out a small sigh of relief and took a cool breath. Her tongue was crackling dry in her mouth, creating an even more disturbing pit in her stomach.

She spotted the window on the other side of the level she was on. She darted her eyes down to the huge man, then looked back to the window. This would have to do. She slowly worked ahead on her hands and knees, striving to pad along silently, taking care to avoid splinters and nails sticking out from the damaged portions of the floor.

Part of her mind thought of what it might be like after she escaped undetected through the window... the new things she'd have to worry about. Leaving town without being seen by the others would be the next challenge, and then finding a place to go after that... She sighed soundlessly to herself.

Her distracted, frustrated reverie was interrupted as her left knee settled into a weak spot of the wooden floor, sending her body reeling backwards through a large patch of the floor that suddenly seemed to have the consistency of a bale of brittle straw.

She reflexively emitted a confused, flat yelp as her body jerked toward the ground, crashing hard on her left shoulder. The rest of her body toppled down after and crumpled in the fetal position on her right side. She clutched her bashed shoulder and covered her eyes and mouth as a shower of wooden bits fell down after, sprinkling all over the floor and herself.

After the dust settled she coughed drly, each forced motion feeling like a thousand small cuts in her parched throat. She kept her eyes squeezed shut throughout the ordeal; she freed a hand to flick flecks of dust and wood particles from her long eyelashes. Her vision was blurry and disoriented for just a few seconds before the hulking dark spot before her came into view—the massive man.

She drew herself in defensively and allowed her face to feature a vulnerable expression. "I... I'm not armed," she said softly, putting her hands in the air.

# # #

Jakwil sat in front of the door, oblivious to the world around him and focusing intently on his scrimshaw. He'd been humming a tune for a while now, some silly song that Lucent liked to sing which had managed to get itself stuck in his head. A loud crashing sound from within the house startled the mountanous man, causing him to miss a cut with his knife and jab it into his finger. If not for his incredibly tough skin, it would have left a nasty gouge. As it was, the blade simply glanced off his hand without causing any damage, though it did sting a bit.

The noise needed to be investigated, however. Could be an assassin or a leftover Bloodhound Corpsman waiting to ambush them or steal their supplies. Jakwil heaved himself to his feet and pushed through the doorframe, though he certainly wasn't expecting what awaited him within. A diminutive woman, looking much the worse for wear, lay curled up on the floor with her arms raised in surrender.

"Easy, now. I mean you no harm. Are you hurt?" Jakwil crouched to get a better look at her, though that really didn't do much to reduce his size. Almost all of his silhouette came from his upper body, after all. "Hmm. You do not appear to be faring very well. I believe you might need some proper medical attention. Do not move," warned the giant. He stuck his head out the window, drew a deep breath and bellowed for his wife.

"Hannity! We have a guest!" boomed Jakwil's voice down the street. A scant few seconds later, the rapid stomping of feet announced the Doctor's approach, followed closely by Alphonse and Lucent. Shoving their way past their guardian, the group oogled in surprise at their unexpected visitor. Initially, Hannity had her pistol out and ready, though once she got a good look at the state Tempest was in, she quickly hosltered the weapon and moved to Jakwil's duffel bag to retrieve her supplies.

"Hey dear, don't move. You look like the south end of a northbound ass, but I can fix that. Lemme get my basic kit and get you checked out, 'kay?" Moving expertly, Hannity gently manhandled Tempest against the nearest wall and began to do a routine checkup.

"Oh, baby. You're in bad shape. Dehydration, moderate to severe sunburn, cuts and bruises everywhere...I take it you're a survivor?" She grabbed one of the many canteens lying around, swirled it experimentally and handed it to the woman before turning back to her first aid kit.

"Don't talk just yet, deary. Drink up first. Once you're ready, we'll be here to listen," Hannity reassured the woman, applying salve to the exposed parts of her skin and cleaning some of the more at-risk cuts with an alcohol solution.

# # #

Tempest took in a sharp breath as the alcohol solution stung the weak, fried skin around the corners of the deeper cuts the stranger was cleaning. But even so she still lifted one of the canteens to her mouth and drank. Her body quivered like a leaf in a storm, starting to overload from the enriching sensation of drinking water and from the administration of first side alike.

She squeezed her eyes shut and let the woman work as she felt her body absorb the water like a sponge that hadn't seen an ocean for years. Her throat felt like what the inside of a canyon scattered with dry brush must feel like.

She took in a breath before she responded. "Yes... I was here when they came," her voice croaked back hoarsely. She was shocked at the sound of herself. "My daughter and I hid... and then she was gone. My husband was killed recently and we were just about to leave to go to my parents' ranch, north of here..." She could feel heat generate in her cheeks not unlike the feeling someone gets when they know they may have been babbling or rambling for a long time. "I haven't been awake but for a day, maybe... Then I slept for a day."

She took another sip of water and adjusted the cotton fabric clinging to her sticky sunburned neck. "I have to find my daughter," she said, her eyes widening with a touch of sun-induced madness. "I need help. I think she's alive, and I think they've taken her."

She drew another sip from the refreshing canteen and looked up at the thatchy ceiling. Her body temperature was beginning to rise rapidly.

# # #

Shooting a concerned glance over her shoulder to the rest of her group, Hannity thought of different things she could say to alleviate this woman's concerns, though nothing too helpful came to mind. Instead, she grabbed another canteen and upended it onto the other woman's head, drenching her.

"You've got sunsickness. I need you to calm down or you'll cook yourself alive. Let's start small. What's your name?" Until she'd restored Tempest to relatively good health, Hannity didn't want to excite her unduly. While she was concerned for the woman's daughter, who was undoubtably afraid and in dire need of saving, letting the girl's mother kill herself with worry wouldn't help anyone. The rest of the group had taken seats around Tempest, though they were respectful enough to maintain their distance.

Lucent mused for a moment, obviously having something she wanted to say but not quite sure what it was. Seeing her expression, Alphonse nudged her with an elbow and a curious look.

"S'nothin', 'Fonse. I 'ad a wee lass once, s'all. I feel fer ya, missus." Hannity, Jakwil and Alphonse all turned to their leader in surprise, unaware of this information beforehand.

# # #

The sensation of the water on Tempest's face felt like an icy flame flashing over her exposed nerves. She panted for cool air restrainedly as she watched three of the visitors gaping at the woman with the translucent hair beneath the black hood.

"My daughter's name is Ellen," Tempest volunteered creakily. "And my name is Tempest. Tempest Toril. My husband was in the local police force." She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought back the sickening feeling of her stomach flipping indignantly. "I'm an artist."

She glanced again at the woman and nodded, wondering if her heartbreak was evident on her face. "I'm sorry," she squeaked empathetically.

# # #

Uttering a comforting noise, Hannity lightly patted Tempest on the shoulder, wary of her sunburn. "We're sorry to hear that, Tempest. Life out here in the middle of nowhere is pretty tough." Having finished patching up her patient as thoroughly as possible, Hannity moved to sit in her husband's lap, but stopped herself. It would probably be rude of her to casually take advantage of something that this poor woman had so recently lost. She instead opted to sit near him.

"Well, we're no friends to the Bloodhound Corps, and that's who came through and dashed your pretty little dollhouse to pieces." She paused for a moment, unsure of how to continue in the conversation. Luckily, her husband spoke up for her.

"Since we are all here, allow me to make the introductions. This," he began, gesturing to Lucent, "Is our leader, Lucent Singularity. That's Alphonse Tyric, this is Hannity Rosa, and I am Jakwil Morgan. I do not know if you have heard of us, but if so, I can assure you that most of the rumors spread about the Phosphorescent Salvation are very much false." Waving happily from her position on her back, Lucent examined Tempest at length. Alphonse managed a nod, but otherwise didn't attempt any sort of friendly outreach.

Hannity sighed , shaking her head slightly and thinking that their group must seem crazy, even if this woman hadn't heard of them before. A grown child, a shy mute, a giant, and her, the most normal of the bunch.

"I guess that does raise the question if you've heard of us before. What, if anything, do you know about our little slice of discord in all this seamless monotony?"

# # #

Tempest's makeup and tear-smudged eyelids flared open just slightly, indicating her awareness of theit notoriety. She pointed outside a nearby window to the image of a steel frame attached to a streetlamp—propaganda warning the locals of "subversive," "salacious," and "anti-establishment violent suicide cults."

"You're known around here," Tempest piped up. "We were told that you have a compound that you take prisoners to and indoctrinate them with violent religious beliefs."

She flipped the canteen over in her hands and studied it idly for a few seconds before she felt the weight of four pairs of eyes gazing at her, silently asking for pontification. Tempest shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, I never knew what to believe," she pressed to fill in the gap of silence. "The only things I know how to do are take care of my daughter, tend to my home, and practice art."

# # #

"By the light..." Hannity muttered before she could stop herself. "Sorry, I guess that doesn't help our case any, huh? Listen, I won't try to convince you of anything right now. Hell, I might not have to convince you of anything ever. All I ask is that if you do intend on sticking around for a bit that you keep an open mind. We're not all that bad. The big men upstairs just don't like us upsettin' the status quo, y'know?" She flashed Tempest a toothy grin before turning to their 'wonderous' leader.

"Lu, you got anything to add?" Rolling over onto her stomach, Lucent glanced questioningly to the doctor. Hannity gestured impatiently to Tempest, a look of exasperation apparent on her face.

"Oh! Right. Ya, no. I's not th' person ta be spreadin' lies or truths, as such. I's just a mot on a taskin', s'all. If ye've questions 'bout how th' ol' clock ticks, yer free ta ask away while we be in yer town." Lucent climbed to a sitting position and played with a strand of her hair while peering sidelong at Tempest. At the moment, she chose a particularly eye-stinging shade of glowing neon pink for hair color, though her eyes remained a neutral white, almost as if they only contained a pupil.

Jakwil opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly shushed by his wife. "No offense, baby, but you're not really the best spokesperson for us. You're probably the reason the rumors of us bein' a religious nuthouse got started." Turning to Tempest, Hannity adopted a lounging pose.

"Listen, Tempest. You seem like a good person who's just down on their luck at the moment. Your little town was hit by the Doberman Company. Real nasty pieces of work, the lot of 'em. We can't guarentee anything, but they've taken a liking to us, and we run into 'em more often than we care to. Maybe, and this is a really slim maybe, they've got your daughter. If you want a sure shot at meeting them again for a little payback and the chance to get your precious little girl back, you can tag along with us. We'll be seeing them on the way, sure as the sun shines." She paused for effect. "I'll warn you, though. No guarentee that your kid is alive, and our way is definitely one of the harder paths a person could choose. So it's up to you. I obviously don't expect you to make a choice right now, especially with the state you're in, but the offer is open. In the mean time, you should chat with Lu here and get to know us a bit better. I'm gonna go back out and keep scavenging for supplies. Jaky, you comin'?" Grunting his assent, Jakwil picked himself up and followed his wife out of the house, leaving Alphonse and Lucent with Tempest to both guard and get to know each other better.

# # #

Tempest adjusted her lilac robes, bleached several shades light from the sun during her time slung out on blast rubble unconscious. Her red skin felt tight and itchy.

She he looked at both of the strangers left with her, looking from Alphonse and back to the so-called "Lucent Singularity." She clutched and fidgeted with the edge of her long robes and tilted her head inquisitively. "Why is it that you travel together?"

# # #

"Dunno. Jakwil started th' whole group after I picked him outta th' gutter in some shithole. He's a sweet enough rook, though, so's I en't complainin'. Th' doc came as a sort o' package deal, cuz she en't gonna be distanced 'tween her man fer no one. 'Fonse here we picked up a fair shake back, when he hid us in his leper's den to avoid a group o' tech-seekers. Lucky fer us, th' glims I planted innus all ward off diseases. Anywho, I patched 'im up an' drug him along, an' he's been wivus ever since. Sides, who en't chompy ta be a part o' th' renewal o' this dyin' waste?" Thinking for a moment, Lucent realized that most people actually didn't want to be anywhere near a part of her 'renewal', a thought which caused her to burst into laughter.

"G'wan, test me s'more. S'been a shake since I talked ta somefolk who en't a part o' me lil bandwagon."

# # #

Tempest took another sip from her canteen, her eyes fixated on those of the woman before her. "What plans for 'renewal' are you talking about?" she inquired, an upturned note of interest ending her sentence.

It wasn't like life was idyllic before this moment. It had been a long road for Tempest to even arrive at the point she was at before her village's destruction. It was an even longer road ahead, it seemed, to find a semblance of normalcy again.

"And why would the Bloodhound Corps attack this place?" she tacked on to her previous question, suddenly finding herself wanting to know the reason why her world was in utter shambles.

# # #

Lucent adopted a sagely posture. "Th' renewal. A complete re-imagining o' th' wastes inta paradise on earth. A real land worthy o' th' name Hope. An' it all starts wiv this mot 'ere." She finished grandly, a large grin on her face and her thumb pointed at her chest. "S'easier if'n I show's ya."

Lifting a small crystal from the loop around her neck, Lucent dropped her hood, reached behind her and seemingly jammed the crystal into the back of her neck. She grimaced in discomfort at first, but eventually it passed. Without warning, her eyes lit up, projecting light onto the floor. For a moment, the image was blurry as Lucent's eyes tried to get the proper focus, then suddenly it was sharp and clear. It depicted a group of scientists clustered around a basketball sized orb, completely white and devoid of markings. A long string of complicated equations blurred by, then the image changed to one of the scientists in front of a holoboard, outlining some sort of plan. It looked to be a map of Hope, with six locations circled. Well, the general areas, anyways. Hope was so big that you couldn't really add circles without zooming in twenty times and expect to get any sort of accurate whereabouts of something.

Again, the image changed, showing four identical baseball sized orbs, which looked like smaller duplicates of the earlier one. Then it switched to the interior of a nuclear bunker, showing a door with four divots in it, matching perfectly the four orbs from a second ago. The final clip depicted a simple stick figure drawing of a person placing the four orbs into the door, removing the larger white orb, burying it near what looked like an oasis, and then a digital picture of Hope covered in lush green and blue. Lucent stared at that final image hungrily for a few moments, though Alphonse's nudging brought her back to reality. She removed the crystal from her spine and shook her hair out, causing a scintilating, scattered rainbow to play all about the walls of the little house.

"That is renewal. S'what I fight fer all days, 'cause its th' only hope we gots anymore. As fer yer other wonder, th' Bloodhound Corps prob'ly jus' needed a place ta loosen th' ol' springs an' whatnot. They prefer smallish, lonesome towns. Not a lick o' resistance, th' way they like it. Don' you worry none, Tempest. Sure as th' sun shines, we'll run inta ol' Doberman Comp'ny. If'n it 'elps ye, we c'n even spread word we got's a particular bone ta pick wivem." Alphonse blinked in surprise, not expecting such a generous offer, especially one that put her crew at risk.

# # #

Tempest stared for the duration if the display what the images the woman showed her. She'd never seen anything like it—from the uncomfortable jamming of the crystal in the back of her neck, to the final word, nothing seemed real. She wasn't sure if she'd heard Lucent correctly. "You would do... what?" she recounted slowly. "Put a bigger bounty on your own heads? For my sake?"

She looked at the ceiling. Off in a corner of the roof a small hole let a little of the light through, illuminating floating dust particles. The wood beam ceiling was called "primitive" in build, but Tempest rather admired its charm.

She her turned her attention back to the two and shrugged. "I don't need revenge," she sighed. "I need my daughter."

# # #

"Aye, I's sure o' that. Yer not quite scannin' me, I glim. Gettin' th' word out ta th' Bloodhounds would peg two stones with jus' one nail. We needs ta be rid o' th' dogs, an' ye needs yer precious lil' mot back safe an' home. I'd say tis a fine plan." Cocking her head to the side, Lucent smiled, though her expression showed that she was a bit confused. Obviously she considered it to be the most logical solution in the world.

"So, what's yer mind? Ye onboard wivus or ye interested in makin' yer own path 'tween here an' th' hereafter? We got's a spot fer ya, but only if yer interested innut." Lucent stood to brush some stray dust from the back of her pants and flipped her hood back up. "Take a shake er two an' soak on th' offer. If ye find it agreeable, then yer hired. If ye don't want ta walk th' rough 'n narrow wivus, we'll get ye set on sups an' drink an' send ye on yer merry way. In either path, I wish ye an' yer girl th' best o' luck. Now, if ye excuse me, I need a bit more o th' glorious sunlight ta recharge me systems." Having nothing left to say, Lucent turned and left, though Alphonse stayed behind to watch over Tempest, partially to guarentee that she doesn't make off with their supplies, but mostly because he was hot and wanted to stay inside for a while.

# # #

Tempest watched Lucent depart from the room and offered a small smile to the quiet man left behind. His expression betrayed nothing for her to scan or learn from. She pulled herself haphazardly from the ground and wandered to one of the sleeping pallets being commandeered by the small group.

As she lay her head down, she contemplated Lucent's offer: stick with them and have their help finding Ellen as long as she helped them, or part ways and receive no help at all.

And then, her heart twisted at the mere thought: Ellen was gone. The wiry, precocious little girl who'd fought so hard to enter the world, who swam in Tempest's arms the first time she held her, was nowhere to be found. The idea that the six-year old may even have been alive at all was debatable. Maybe even childish, selfish, or unrealistic... But something in Tempest's bones told her that Ellen was not among the departed; that she was safe somewhere. She just needed to find out where, exactly...

No decisions needed to be made at the moment, Tempest suddenly reassured herself. She wanted nothing more than to immediately strike out to search for the girl. However, as she'd been awake for the last several hours, she felt her energy reserves waning. She'd be useless if she wasn't about to sleep.

Tempest cast a glance at the lone leftover member of the group, nodding a polite acknowledgment before shutting her eyes quickly and fading into a deep sleep.