Kaidar, the City without Lights. (IC)

[Hedya]

(Link to the OOC: kaidar-the-city-without-lights-ooc-sign-t22517.html )

((Silare))


A slender girl is walking over a pile of rubble. She looks tired. She feels really hot, yet she doesn't really feel the sun on her back. Of course, that's because there is no sun. At least not for those who live in the slums. She looks far away, in the distance, and she sees what seems something blue. The name of that blue thing is "Sky". She has never really seen much of it. In fact, she's scared of it. It feels like I could be swallowed up there, not having a top.

She descends from the pile of rubble, and nearly falls. She's carrying three iron tubes. The iron looks quite tough. Usually the tubes are broken, too short, or just not smooth. Luckily she found three good ones today. That should make some good money. Tubes are really good-seller items, lately. As she walks away from the rubble zone, she walks past two half-destroyed houses. She takes a look, as she shakes her head.


Finally, the girl arrives to what looks like a street. It has no houses, and a big gate to the right. She goes in front of the gate and presses a button. The gate opens slowly, a cracking sound is heard meanwhile. The girl hears an old man complaining from the inside. "Someday the gate's going to fall! And hear me it's going to kill somebody!". This 'inside' is like a small town. ten or twelve houses. The girl smiles at the old man, and walks to one of the houses. It has a panel with something written on it. "GALHART JUNK SHOP". The girl opens the metallic door and walks in, after shuting it down gently.

"Mom, dad, I'm home! I brought three tubes today!" a middle aged woman walks to the girl, wearing an half-broken apron and plain simple blue clothes. "Silare! You're back already? And with three iron tubes? My, my! We're so lucky! Your father is going to be so happy!".

Silare looked at her, slightly confused. "What? Dad isn't home? I thought he should be around here already! I'm going to go look for him! I'll be back soon, mom!" and without allowing her mother to reply, Silare ran after opening the door, leaving it completely open, for her mother to close it again.

She saw some kids playing with what looked like a ball, and she smiled at them. "Be careful not to hit anyone with that, alright?" then a thought struck her. "Oh, by the way! Have you seen Mr.Galhart? My father." Neither of them had, and so she was still clueless. She went outside the gate, and started to look around the other side of the street, in the opposite direction of what they used to call "Rubble Square". She went past some small houses, and saw some people inside of them, eating the few things they had. She finally arrived to the limit of that 'street'. It was the gate to the upper plate zone. She had never been there. She heard things, like they had the sky watching over them, a big central building, she heard there even were TVs as big as twice as the ones they had! But the most surprising thing is that the energy used to cook and everything else could be bought! In the slums, the only way of using that energy was doing small holes in the tubes that brought the energy to the rich part of Kaidar, and try to take the energy to wherever they wanted to. And it still was very difficult. And if they used too much, someone from up there would come and fix the tube. She had even seen some people arresting those who made holes...

And while she was thinking about that, she saw someone who she had never seen there. Surely he was new to the slums; or at least he was new to that zone of the slums. She decided not to get near that person, since the looks were strange, or so thought Silare. And she wondered, where was his father?

[Perilute]

Kioshi rifled through the newspaper as he walked, eyeing the headlines with little interest. Kaidar controlled the world’s energy supply, old news. Kaidar was busy annexing all the other countries, boring. He didn’t even know why he wasted the dollar and half just buying the stupid thing, when all it did was ostentatiously clamour about information that hadn’t changed in decades.

He looked over the newspaper again, combing it for anything useful. He was on a job, but his target was in the middle of a meeting down here in the slums, and Kioshi couldn’t exactly storm into a room full of people with guns blazing. It would be messy. Blood and gore everywhere. Kioshi hated blood and gore. Kioshi looked around and grunted in annoyance. There was nowhere to sit, since anything as useful as a bench had long been stolen to decorate someone’s little shack of a house, and he didn’t want to lean against a wall in case the soot rubbed off on his jacket.

Kioshi hated living in the slums. Hated every second he spent breathing it’s murky air and wandering it’s dirty streets. His contracts had all been small fish lately. Swindlers and smugglers just trying to earn a living. Up top wer the expensive people. The ones that had made powerful and rich enemies. But once you’ve lived in the slums, it was like you’d contracted leprosy. No matter how hard he cleaned his clothes, the stink of poverty remained and the people in the city above wrinkled their noses at him whenever he deigned to walk amongst them.

He folded the paper into neat eighths, and tossed it into a trash can. Seconds later an urchin darted over, snatched the thing out and sped away. Kioshi shook his head. While he wasn’t rolling in money, killing people was a relatively lucrative business, and he was able to keep himself fed, clothed and dry easily enough. He often wondered why no one else took the same job. God knows there was always someone to dispatch. He did doubt that there were many people with an adeptness towards it though.

The man in the suit stopped, he could feel a pair of eyes boring into his back. He whirled around, half reaching into his pocket for one of his knives. It was lucky he didn’t have a hair trigger, because otherwise he would have pegged a young woman. He stared at her, removing his head and stuffing it in his pocket. Nosy little kid. The target chose that moment to leave the building. Kioshi turned again, slowly this time, reaching once more into his jacket and withdrawing and long and slightly curved knife. With a flick of his wrist he had hidden the thing with the cuff of his jacket. Without a backwards glance, he prowled after the man, waiting for him to enter some abandoned place where he could slit his throat without notice.

[Forensic_Anthro]

Madison sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, she smoothed her dress out and glanced around her, Good, mom and dad aren't home, now I just have to worry about Elizabeth. It was at that moment that Madison's little sister Elizabeth chose to walk into the room, "Where are you going Madison?" she asked curiously, playing with one of her long, golden braids.
"I am going to the market, Elizabeth Jane, and you are going out to play with your friends, it is not nice to be late," Madison said, a small smile playing across her lips, "Have fun, Ella."
"Have fun, Madee," Elizabeth said, clearly unhappy as she turned and walked to her room.
Madison smiled, Yes! Now I just have to get out of here! Madison glanced around the empty room, making sure that no one would see her leave, once she was sure she was alone, she slipped out the door and into the bright street.

Madison shortly arrived at a gate, the guards had a surprised expression on their faces as she walked up and requested to go into the Slums, though they let her through, they wore worried expressions.
Madison walked down the stairway to the dark land under the plate, she glanced around her as she arrived, walking for a while until she reached a gate, she gently pushed a button, she flinched slightly at a crackling noise it made, and when the gate opened, she swiftly walked in, looking around, nervous because of the people standing in doorways staring at her, and rushing their children inside.

[Hedya]

((Silare))

The man Silare saw was a strong-looking man, wearing a dark suit. She couldn't tell which color, from the distance, only that it was dark. She thought the man looked so like a distant person. His hair was perfectly groomed, and he seemed to be paying attention to something. She felt a bit of wind blow, and move her dark brownish hair, as she stared at the man, really curious about him. Suddenly he turned around, and faced her. She could feel his cold eyes pierceing her with his glare. She then saw the man had a pierceing on his lip. A few moments after that, the metallic sound of a door was heard, and a few people came out of the building they were next to.

The man turned around at the noise of the people, and did some sort of movement with his hand. Silare wasn't sure what he had done, but he definitely didn't look safe. As she was looking around the people who came out of the building, she recognized some faces. Those were the people who were working with her father. Mostly shopkeepers. All of them had to pay a tax to the "boss" of the zone. He was like a mafia leader. He always dressed with shiny clothes, and likes luxury, drinking, eating, and as far as she knew, women. That was one of the reasons she was told never to get close to his house. Then she recognized her father, walking along with the small crowd. "Father!!" she shouted, quite high, so some other people turned around as well. "We've been searching high and low for you!

And, without remembering the man in the dark suit anymore, Silare walked away with his father. On their way back home they talked about the metal tubes she had found. Her father said he was proud of her, and that it was a pity they didn't live on top of the plate. As they arrived to the gate, they saw it was open, and there was a girl with light-colored hair, who was wearing a black jacket. People seemed to be scared, so Silare and her father stopped behind the girl.

"What do you want?!" she shouted at the newly-arrived girl.


((Director of ELITE))

It had been a busy day. However, there was still something necessary to do. He had received a letter with the names of the new 50 applicants to enter the Guard of Honor. The director was a kind and calm man who always wanted the best for his men. "Invite them in. I have already thought of a good exam for them. Send them to the welcoming hall, I will be there in 15 minutes." The man stood up, looked through the window. A dark landscape was all he could see. It was a landscape with lots of lights, coming from the houses. It's almost like this was...an earthly sky.

[Vis Naturae]

Early in the afternoon, a group of adolescent guys are walking down the main street of Kaidar Upper. Two are leading the way with half a dozen following behind.

One of the leaders begins in a jovial tone, "Come on, let's just all go and get drunk. They've just opened a new bar down by the--"
"No. Boring," snaps the other. The first one laughs and gives him a playful punch.
"Marcial, Marcial! You're not going to be bored. The place is full of chicks drunk enough to try anything." No response.
"Jamie's sister Caitlin's going to be there too. She'll be disappointed if her sweetheart doesn't show up, Marcial."

"Yeah I'll bet the little witch is already dreaming every night about my bank account." One of the followers noticeably bristles. Marcial nearly laughs aloud but manages to constrain himself to a cynical grin. "Calm down, Jamie, you know I'm right. Listen, you guys get drunk, get laid, whatever. I gotta run."

As Marcial turns away from the group onto a side road, the remaining leader calls out to him. "Come find us later, we'll be there all night, okay bro?" No response.

Marcial, his expression having long reverted to boredom, makes his way north along the side road. North away from bars, fair-weather friends, and the whores they call sisters, towards ELITE headquarters. In a few hours, his life might become more... interesting.

--------------------------

Marcial sized the other applicants up. Most of them were burly, and more than a few had a glint of ruthlessness in their eyes. All of them were examining each other as well. The tension in the room was almost palpable. Very soon the applicants would be competing for membership in the Guard of Honor. With it would come a military career, steady income, a shot at becoming a hero and, of course, a chance to escape boredom.

The door opened and an officer strode in. "Gentlemen, the director will see you in the welcoming hall." He turned and left the room, with all of the applicants following behind.

[Hedya]

((Director of ELITE))

After he ordered some papers he intended to hand to the possible new recruits, he checked out everything in the room. He placed a book in its right position, and smiled gently, before opening the door, locking the room from the outside with his personal key, and walking to the Welcoming Hall. He walked down some corridors. The pure walls and floor were almost crystalline, just as the ELITE duty was pure. Some of the paintings in that corridor portrayed some of the Yiato War Heroes. He stopped in front of a blond-haired portray. He was wearing the primitive ELITE garments. His name was Sazar Kaynel. He was one of the main inspirations of young recruits.

Finally, the director arrived to the Welcoming Hall. The door opened automatically as it sensed him walking nearby. He heard the sound of tenths of surprised persons. As he went to the top of the stairs, he looked down. In front of him, there were 50 young men who wanted to join the Elite Kaidar Guard of Honor. Some of them were asking themselves who he was. Suddenly, a voice rose over the others. "It's Lay Kaynel! The Director of ELITE!"

"Welcome, young men. I welcome you to the Elite Kaidar Guard of Honor Headquarters. This is the place where justice starts. We want to maintain peace all over the world. To that purpose, the ones who get in will be trained until they become valuable warriors who can prove themselves worthy. However, it is known that we cannot allow anyone in. Otherwise, our reputation would go down, with people who ought not to be here. We are the pride of Kaidar!"

At that moment, two men dressed formally began to hand some papers.

"This, which is being handed to you all, is confidential information. I'm not using metaphores, this information is invaluable, and could prove itself fatal for Kaidar, should it fall in the wrong hands. Some of you will be allowed to keep this paper. Those will be allowed to keep it for themselves. Of course, with great power comes great responsability, so those who are staying here will have a responsability of keeping the secret for Kaidar, and will be under constant surveillance whenever they're not on duty." Director Kaynel saw fear in some of the men's eyes. "Those who are not ready to carry this weight, may leave now. If you leave now, there will be no record of your name being here, and you will be free of any duty. Everyone else will be under a contract already."

Some of the young men left. Nearly half of them.

"Very well" he spoke to those who remained. "80 KDs will be given to you. This money will assure you can have all the necessary material to carry out the mission you're being charged with. Yes, you heard right. It's a mission. Your first mission as part of ELITE. Those who succeed will be in. Those who don't, will be out. Now, check out the letter.


-------------------------------------------------------------
Hello, future ELITE member,

I, personally, as director of ELITE welcome you to the first mission. This is very important information that should be kept safe, and this is what we expect from you.
Many years ago, the Kaidar Scientific Department found out a new kind of weapon. This weapon was used in the final stages of the Yiato War, and after that, we have been improving it. This weapon is, in fact, the essence of the energy as we know it. As everyone knows, our reactors give energy to the whole world, and this energy is used to cook, create light, watch televisions, and many other things. But it can also be used for militar purposes.

When a huge amount of the energy gathers in a single point, under a very high pressure, a kind of "solid plasma". This matter is pure energy that can be used on a body. Of course, inanimated objects can 'fuse' with this energy, but the results are zero. However, when 'fused' with a living being, everything becomes more interesting. An animal is not able to use it, but we humans, with our conscious minds, are able to control the flow of energy in our bodies.

As explained like this, everything should be very simple. But the effects on each person depend on that said person. So one person might be able to increase their strength through this energy, while someone else might be able to increase concentration. And there have been some reported cases where the person could even do magic.

Your duty is to go all around Kaidar and find at least two Plasma Units, from now on called "Plun". Those who can bring two Pluns, will pass this exam. Those who don't, will not pass, and will be asked to hand in their Pluns. For this first mission, Plun use is completely forbidden. Groups can not be bigger than three, but can be smaller, so you can go alone if you wish. More people in the group will mean more Plun needed to pass, so:

1 person in the group = 2 Plun needed.
2 people in the group = 4 Plun needed.
3 people in the grouo = 6 Plun needed.


That's all. Good luck.

Lay Kaynel, Director of the Elite Kaidar Guard of Honor.
-------------------------------------------------------------

He saw some people grouping toghether, and he turned around, and walked back to his office, waiting for the result. Hopefully, some of them would end up being good ELITE members...




(Note: KD = Kaidar's money. The word 'dollar' was used before, it should be edited, or it can remain as just an expression, but should not be used from now on.)

[Vis Naturae]

Marcial read through his letter quickly. So, his first mission would be a glorified scavenger hunt. He had to remind himself to take this seriously; the task would be challenging, especially since he had little idea what Plun looked like or where they were. He carefully read through his letter again to make sure that he hadn't missed these details. As he was reading, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Marcial, right? I'm Gerard. We met last month at your family's dinner party. My dad-"

"Gerard!" Marcial flashed a shallow but friendly smile. "Of course I remember." He hadn't. "How've you been?" He extended his hand and gave a firm handshake.

"I'm alright. What do you think about this mission? I think it'd be great if we could work together on this."

Gerard didn't resemble Marcial in any way. Where Marcial was poised and calm, Gerard was burly and obviously impatient. He didn't look like much of a tactician, but he would be useful in physical combat and it would be nice to make a friend in the ELITES. Besides, if his dad knew Marcial's, then he was probably well-connected. Marcial took only a split second to make the decision but Gerard sensed the pause. "But if you were thinking about another group or working alone..."

"Oh, I'd love to work with you." They smiled and shook hands again. Marcial noticed others already leaving the room and began to also make his way to the exit.

"Let's get moving. I think we should start looking in the Slums -- I figure that the director would have hidden the Plun in the most dangerous areas."

"Sounds good."

[Forensic_Anthro]

Madison jumped and spun around, looking at the girl in surprise, "I-I was just- I mean," Madison took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, "I was just going for a walk," Madison paused, "I never knew it was this bad down here... I always thought that this place was a clean area, rich, but not quite as rich as above the plate... No offence intended," Madison said the last part quickly.
Madison shifted and watched the girl and her father nervously, shyly tugging on the pocket of her jacket.

[Hedya]

((ELITE Assistant))

"Well, gentlemen, one last thing before you leave. This mission is about finding very important items. As you can guess, we can not allow ourselves to risk the possession of such things by leaving them around the city. This means that we never put any Plun anywhere for you to find, so what we're asking for, is, in fact, that you find new Pluns yourselves. Since we do not control the appearances of those, it might be that all of you find it, and you'd all pass. But it also can be that none of you passes the mission. It will all come down to luck. You have 24 hours as from this moment, so don't waste your time, and go for it. For the pride of Kaidar, ELITE! We will reunite in 24 hours. Dismissed!"


--------------------------------------------------------


((Silare))

After Silare questioned the stranger girl about who she was, she looked quite startled, and turned around, her eyes showing a bit of guilt. I-I was just- I mean, I was just going for a walk, I never knew it was this bad down here... I always thought that this place was a clean area, rich, but not quite as rich as above the plate... No offence intended.

She talked in a rush, nervously, with a bit of guilt on her voice, as well. After having heard her, Silare thought that maybe it was true. She wasn't completely trusting the stranger, since it was so uncommon that people from the upper plate came down there. "No offence taken. But even if we assume that what you say is true. What brings you here? It is so strange to see someone like you around here. Is it really just a walk?" As she spoke, she realized more and more that it was even possible. A girl from the richest zone in the city, who had never been told about the slums. One day she decides to go for a walk, and goes to the slums, curious as to what she'd be finding there. It really sounded like something that could happen in upper Kaidar.

"I'm sorry. We have nothing to offer here. It really is that bad, as you can see. There are no flowers, there are no plants, and almost no animals, too. And if we gave away something, that might leave us without food, at some point. I'm Silare Galhart. Nice to meet you." In the meantime, Mr.Galhart went quickly to his house, to tell his wife that he was there and he was fine. And the people started to come out from their houses, seeing that the girl who had just arrived wasn't dangerous.

"You see, it's just that sometimes, ELITE agents and secret agents come around here, and when that happens, we use to have problems. It's always about the energy tubes at the other side of the houses..." she smiled softly, tiredly, to the girl, as she tried to make her feel it was ok, that even if they lived poorly, they were also people.

[Forensic_Anthro]

"I'm Madison, by the way," Madison said, a bit more comfortable now, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal twisted into a heart, "You can have this. I don't need it anymore... Another reason as to why I'm here is just to get away from my family... I'm kind of the odd one of the family, so they ignore me and spoil my little sister, Elizabeth..." Madison trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face.

[Vis Naturae]

"Marcial, our original plan is no good. The plun aren't hidden in the slums, we have to find or make them ourselves! Let's head over to the university and see what the lab can do for us."

Marcial sighed inwardly. Yeah, maybe they could run over to the lab and request top-secret weapons.

"That might be an option, Gerard, but I think we should try at hard as possible to be discreet." They walked in silence for a moment.

"I've heard stories about people poking holes in the energy tubes down in the Slums. If the plun are created by a concentration of plasma in a small area, I wonder if any of them have ever created a plun by accident..." Marcial looked thoughtful. "Let's go."

Gerard followed with a somewhat dubious expression as Marcial led the way towards the Slums.

[Hedya]

((Silare))

"Madison, huh? Nice to meet you. My name is Silare" she smiled again softly at the girl. She was surprised when she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal twisted into a heart.

"Oh, thank you so much...it's so nice from you! I will keep it very dear to me, Madison." Silare looked down, to her feet, stayed quiet for a moment, and then looked back at Madison. "You...should go back home. It's not nice, in here. Life is though, we have to work really hard to get just food, and even then, most of us are always hungry. I don't advice you to stay here. Go back to your family. I'm sure they love you, after all..."

After having said this, she turned to her house, and walked inside. However, before closing the door, she turned to the new girl. "However, even if we can't give you anything, you'll be welcome here."

With that, she closed the door. She walked slowly to her small room, while her parents were talking about the day, and closed her eyes. She was especially hungry, today, and it seemed there would be no food, again. She had always been lucky and had eaten well, but lately it was being hard to find anything to eat... she was starting to worry about it.

[Forensic_Anthro]

Madison sighed, "It's just as bad down here as it is for me in my house," she sighed, walking back towards the gate, going through silently and walking towards the stairs.
Madison looked around her, thinking, "They could use a little music or something down here..."

[Kesteven]

Jashel and Lesth left the welcoming hall, along with Keeting, a second lieutenant whom they'd met as a cadet near the start of their military training and who had defended them against the abuse some of the officers and soldiers had given them for their impoverished background. It had started with mocking scorn and hassling when they enlisted, but had risen to jealous rumours and finally moral outrage as step-by-step they came to outrank many of their 'betters'.
As soon as they were away from the other prospectives, Lesth stopped and turned to the others.
"2 'plun' each, 6 in total. That's an average of 1 every 4 hours."
There was no question over whether they'd be working together.
"I'm still not sure about this test," said Jashel. "How could ELITE allow their entry to come down to luck?"
"Life isn't fair," replied Lesth. "The director knows that. This is the real deal, not some controlled condition exam. Besides, there may be less luck involved than you think."
"What do you mean?"
Lesth shook his head.
"The test isn't to find plun, Jashel. It's to return with them."
Keeting, who'd been keeping quiet, interjected.
"He's right."
"What?" asked Jashel. "I don't understand."
Keeting sighed.
"Jash, you're a fine soldier and an excellent friend, but if you can't think past the obvious, you'll never survive in ELITE. Listen, there's no way there's going to be enough plun in the city in one day for everyone to pass. As time wears on, the chance of finding an unclaimed plun will decline logarithmically. When that happens, there's only going to be one way to get enough."
Lesth nodded.
"That's right. Take it from someone else."
"You mean steal it? That's cheating!"
"Is it? The director's thought about this too. He knows what will happen and he knows that some of us will do anything to get into ELITE. He wants us to fight each other... to see who's strongest."
"That's absurd! I can't believe ELITE would encourage its own soldiers to turn on each other."
Lesth shrugged.
"Believe what you want. When the numbers drop and the situation begins to change, you'll see what the real world is like. For now, every second we waste here lowers our chances of passing. If we can get 6 plun quickly, all we have to do is defend them until we get back to HQ."
"Agreed," said Keeting. "We should target places with high energy engineering first. That means the reactors and anything connected with them. I already checked and we're authorized to use standard military equipment on this mission, which means we can take my APC."
"Let's hit a shop first and buy some radiation detectors and extraction and containment gear," suggested Lesth. "We were given this money for a reason, after all. Everyone ready?"
The three nodded to each other and set off briskly for their vehicle.

[Forensic_Anthro]

Madison walked back to her house on top of the plate, sneaking in through the back door.
She ran up to her room silently and grabbed her clarinet, swiftly leaving the house afterwards.
She ran towards the stairs again, the guards stepping out of her way swiftly this time.

[Kesteven]

The APC sped down the streets of Kaidar upper, the afternoon sun glinting off a radiometer which had been clamped onto the top. Inside, Jashel and Lesth checked the readings from it on the built-in computer while Keeting sat up front driving.
"Anything yet?"
"I'm not sure," replied Lesth. "The ambient reading from the reactor is rising as we get closer, but there's something else. Occasional spikes, seem to be coming from nowhere."
"Wait, slow down!" said Jashel, who was staring at the readings, as if in thought.
"Slow down? Why?" said Keeting. "We're in kind of a hurry!"
"Just do it."
Keeting shrugged and did so. The APC decelerated to a trundle.
"I thought so!" said Jashel. "Lesth, remember when we were running away from that storehouse after we'd... well, anyway, remember the floodlights shining through the fence as we ran? This is the same pattern. It's a distant fixed source, shining through something as we move. That's why the readings keep suddenly changing. Something's getting in the way."
"Of course... but what about the lack of a direction?"
"I think I can explain that, too. These radiometers only detect on the horizontal plane, but the radiation is only strong enough to read... when we're on top of it."
"You're saying the source is below us?"
"I don't get it," said Keeting. "There's nothing down there but Old Kaidar. There's no power grid down there."
"Just because there's no grid doesn't mean there's no power," said Lesth. "Siphoning off the upper system is a lucrative occupation under the plate, and if our amateur engineers didn't use proper containment, they could produce... irregularities."
"Like compression points?"
"I think we have a new destination. Turn us around."

[Hedya]

((Silare))

After trying to sleep for a while, and having some weird thoughts, Silare decided to get up. Her parents were sleeping, but that didn't stop her from leaving the house. She did get a tube with her, though. It was one with a particularly sharp end. Not that it would be that useful, but it sort of made her feel protected, even when there was no one around. When walking out of her house, she thought to have seen a shadow moving in the darkness. However, she dismissed the thought, and kept walking around. It pas particularly cold, 'outside', especially since being under the plate, it was always so hot.

She went far from the group of of houses where she lived at, and looked to the energy tubes in the distance. If only they had been allowed to have energy, as well, people wouldn't have to dig holes in the tubes, which caused some deaths because of intoxication, to the ones that risked their lives to make those wholes. Silare remembered how, along with his father, she had been preparing some tubes that, once connected, could move a little part of the energy to their houses, so they could also use the energy. She had been told by her father that this was nuclear power, but he had always felt it was different. After all,when the reactors were built, they had to drill deep holes into the ground... why would they do so, if it was a nuclear reactor? Because of these teachings, she also believed it could not be just normal nuclear reactors, that were in Kaidar, but she never told anyone, because she thought she did not have enough knowledge, so there was a possibility that they were wrong, all along. Nevertheless, she always felt it was this way.

In the end, she decided to get near the tubes. She saw a man there, doing something... she heard a noise. It seemed like an electric sound. And soon she saw sparkles. He's...drilling a hole!! Silare was surprised, scared, shocked... but curious. She wanted to see what this 'energy' looked like. She wasn't allowed there, while the men where doing those holes, so she wanted to see, although she knew there was danger involved.

And suddenly it happened. A big green flash blinded Silare for a few moments, and when she regained her sight, she saw the man had a slight green glitter. It lasted only a few moments, however. She was even more scared when the man turned around. His face was not that of a human man, but that of some sort of...monster!! His eyes had the same green color as she had seen a few moments before, and he was drooling a lot; like a beast. And before she even realized he was running towards her. Silare made a shriek, and began to run, but the man was so faster than one could even imagine, so she ended up, cornered against the very same tubes he had been in front of, a few moments before. She swayed her tube, clumsily, but she did hit the spot, in the man's head. He fell down, unconscious. He still had the bright eyes, and his face was very strange, now she saw it better, even deformed. She was so scared that she closed her eyes, hoping it all would be a dream, that she would wake up at any moment. But it didn't happen.

Silare calm down, calm down, calm down!! until she slapped herself. At that point she was able to calm down. Whoerver...no, whatever this thing was, it was dead, or uncoscious, in front of her. So she had nothing to fear...for now. She turned around, as she heard a high-pitched sound before here, almost like a continuous whistle, but softer. She saw something in the huge energy tube, but the energy didn't seem to flow towards outside, as weird as this was. She kicked the tube, and a couple of stones fell to the ground. She had never seen those stones, though, for they were shining stones... it was a beautiful green faint color, that the stones had, and she felt the urge to touch one of them, so she kneeled down, and picked one of the stones. It was cold at the touch, very smooth, and somewhat hard, although it didn't particularly feel like a stone, or a crystal ball, by that matter. She closed her eyes, as she tried to figure out what that was, and she felt something on her left hand, a warm feeling that didn't last long. When she opened her eyes, the stone was gone!

[Kesteven]

The APC rumbled towards the nearest elevator platform going down into the slums.
"I just got something..." said Lesth, tapping at the computer. "A massive spike somewhere down there, it's off the charts! Seems to be gone now though, but there's still a lot of readings from the area."
"Let's just hope nobody else saw it," muttered Jashel.
"Hope's for people without an accelerator," replied Keeting, putting his foot down.
The APC accelerated, making the road and nearby buildings resonate with the force of the engine.
"Almost there..."
The wall surrounding the platform loomed into view. A guard waved them down at the gate.
"Got business on the underside?"
"You could say that," said Lesth, flashing his paperwork and temporary ELITE ID badge. The guard scanned the badge, saluted, and keyed in the gate code.
"Be careful down there!"

The APC juddered as the platform began to slide slowly down into the depths and the circle of blue above shrank down into a dot. The platform landed with a jolt, raising a cloud of dust. There were no guards down here. It was assumed that anyone who was allowed to come up would be able to radio the guards above with proper authority.
"The streets here are too narrow and clogged for the APC. You keep the engine running and circle around," Lesth told Keeting. "We'll get closer and investigate."
He grabbed a gun from the weapon rack, throwing another to Jashel.
"Let's split up. Keep close radio contact."
"Roger that," said Jashel, putting his visor down.
Lesth nodded and put down his own visor, before opening the door at the back of the vehicle. They leaped down to the ground and bounded out into the dusty darkness.

[Forensic_Anthro]

Madison went back to the small community, she sat down on the ground just outside of the gates.
She lifted her clarinet to her lips and began playing a slow, sad song.

[Hedya]

((Silare))

Where is it?! Where has it gone?!! Silare panicked, as she looked around, still scared by what had happened right there, right then. And when she thought she was sort of saved, then a stone from the energy tube disappears into her hand...

Into...? She looked at her hand. There was something odd. She didn't feel any different, but she was sure the stone had gone into her body. When she looked around, she could not see a single hint of it, and she never felt it slip away from her hand, or being taken... which meant there was only one possible answer... her body had absorbed an "Energy Stone"?!! No matter how much she thought about it, the idea seemed horrible, for her, since she didn't know what effects would she see on her body, and how to take the stone off. She wondered if the effects were those of turning into a beast, like that man... she began to be scared, and so she decided to leave that place; just in case.

Silare began to run, and soon she tripped with someting in the ground. It was her own tube. She had dropped it before, without realizing it. She picked it back, and started to walk back to her house. She heard something, like an machine functioning. It seemed like a vehicle, perhaps? She wanted to go see, and it took her some time to find it, since she had to follow her ears, and the sound was echo-y down there. When she finally found it, she tried to hide, in order to prevent people from noticing her, as she observed how some men came down from a vehicle, most likely a militar vehicle. She was sort of scared, again, since those men had weapons that were similar to what the other man had... were they monsters, as well?

She felt something warm inside her soul, when she began to be scared.