The Union RPG

Nicholas glanced around the office, to the cameras. "He lived in a different time, I suppose."

"Yeah, maybe. He believed in healing people." She looked up at Nicholas, "he worked on one project for years and was never able to finish it, but it was brilliant."

"What was it?" he asked, still worried about the cameras. He could not be instigated in any kind of treasonous talk. It was too dangerous.

"I'll show you later, we need to start working on this," she said, turning back to the file.


ooc: I'm off for the night, night!

He nodded and looked at the computer. "Right, absolutely."

ooc: night!

Brit took the file to the computer and entered the nessicary information. "It this works we'll know right away. Then we'll test it on a rat and by watching the rat's brain activity."

The cell block was such a dismal place. The last time they had had anyone in here was years ago. Even the revolutionist weren't thrown in here any more. The rooms they had crated for holding were much more civil now with cots and lights but he supposed Diana had a special rage in her heart towards Xander. After the conversations he had had with her recently he figured she had a special rage towards just about everyone. he let out a long sigh seeing Xander. They had never been friends per say but they had never been anything less than cordial. he didn't say a word as he stepped up to the bars and looked in. he looked terrible.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked after a moment of silence. Xander hardly moved never opening his eyes
"The torturer is coming to ask if I've eaten yet?" he asked clearing his dry throat, "that hardly seems in character." he had been standing when Brittany was there and he hadn't sat back down yet. leaning against the far wall his arms were crossed over his chest his head hanging so he could stair at the floor. Loren said nothing as he watched the young man. he knew the scrutiny his job description bore to some people but he never really thought of himself like that. he had always thought of himself as more of an information retriever, not really a torturer.'
"I take it you haven't." he wasn't really great with small talk with prisoners. doing his job for as many years as he had made that slightly difficult.
"No Loren, I haven't." Xander slowly raised his head his eyes meeting Loren's, "I guess the hospitality crew forgot to do their job." he smiled at his own dry joke, "as if anyone cared." and the smile was gone.
"We do care Xander. you are a great mind and we want you to let go of whatever misconceptions-"
"Don't patronize me Loren!" Xander barked his body snapping out of the "go to hell" pose it had been in, "I'm not some low level lab rat that knows nothing so don't even try your Union mind crap on me." he had crossed the little cell and was standing right in front of Loren. For the first time in a long time Loren was grateful there were bars between him and a prisoner. Xander may have been a squint but he was better built and he was sure Xander wouldn't hesitate to use that build. Loren took a slow deep breath never breaking eye contact with the man.
"what happened? you used to be dedicated to the cause that-"
"what cause? world domination and tyranny?" he snapped. the swill that Loren was pushing made Xander sick.
"If that is how you choose to see it."
"How I choose?" Xander shook his head running on hand through his greasy hair, "really? are you that whipped that you can't even admit what you serve? I mean I could respect you in a small way if you knew what you were doing and just admitted it."
"what I am doing?" Loren could feel his proverbial seat getting lit, "I am fighting for a better more unified future and if I have to get my hands dirty in the process I will because not all of us can be self righteous pricks." he snapped, "so if that isn't a good reason to do ones job then please enlighten me."
"You make it sound so harmless." Xander's disgust was evident, "you make the blood on your hands sound so goram harmless."
"The only blood on my hands are the ones who chose to put it there. I gave everyone plenty of chances to help themselves."
"Like the Taylors?"
"Excuse me?" Loren wondered if the surprise he was feeling inside his head was showing on the outside as well.
"Britts family." Xander clarified a tad hesitantly
"How the hell do you know anything about them?" he asked his question low and quiet
Xander swallowed back a dry lump. he much preferred Loren in a rage but calm and quiet...thats when things could go terribly wrong, "I'm good with computers." he said after a moment. Loren felt like the wind had been caught in his throat and he couldn't let it out. his eyes closed for a moment as he focused on getting a breath out. Finally a long sigh left his lungs and he sucked up more air trying to get his brain to track forwards.
"you breached the system?" he asked fixing his eyes on Xander
"Yes." where was this going?
"You breached the system?"
"Yes. I don't understand-"
"Damn you!" Loren's hand crashed against the metal bars the noise bouncing off the solid walls. Stumbling back from the outburst Xander was more confused now than he had been before. he had breached the system but with an intricate web of rerouting and false Ip's so that the hack would lead searchers in circles. he had stuck around for 24 hours to make sure no one got pinned and no one had.
"Damn you!" Loren barked again through his teeth this time, "You preach to me of blood on my hands and you..." his blood was boiling and he could have strangled him right then and there and not felt remorse for it. his face contorted in anger and sorrow each emotion battling for supremacy over his facial expressions.
"Me what?" Xander was lost, "I never once laid a finger on anyone even in tests I-"
"Shut up! just shut up!" stepping away from the bars Loren shook his head, "you are no better than anyone. you ran to save your own hide and the rest you left behind be damned." he took a long deep breath one hand behind his head the other clenched at his side. he had walked in here feeling bad for Xander but now he couldn't wait to get his hands on him. A few more deep breaths and he slowly felt himself growing calmer. The anger was still raging but it was bottled up where it would do some good later. Xander watched him trying to figure out what was going on. what had happened after he left?
"you better think about what information your life is worth because I guarantee that before I am even half way through with you you will value death as the best thing that could have ever happened to you. Once I start, you won't be able to scream your way out of it." Xander knew how to read a bluff and Loren wasn't bluffing. Not even slightly. He watched Loren leave without even tossing a glance back over at him. he swallowed back the lump in his throat his heart feeling like a rock rattling around in his chest. this wasn't good.

Nicholas nodded. "We need to make sure we're not just making another brain burner."

Brit nodded, she typed a few more things in and the simulation started. "Now we wait," she said. "We can work on making another dose while we wait. If this works I don't want to use all of it in a rat."

Tevon closed his computer and stood up. There were a few people sparing and river had a group of people head to the kitchen area. He walked up to August who looked like he might be waiting to spar
"So...what do we do all day? He asked

Nicholas agreed and began to assemble the chemicals they had used.

"Oh good, you're here," August nodded. "She was gonna send someone to find you."
River looked over. "Tevon, right in time. August, I want him proficient in arms and at least passable with hand to hand. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," August agreed with a good natured grin.

"uhm...what?" Tevon looked from River to August and back to River. he was sure she didn't mean what he thought he had heard

"I won't have you defenseless. We need you to stay around so I need to know you can protect yourself," River answered. "I can't always spare a man to protect you."
"It's not that bad," August shrugged. "I'll go easy on you."
"No you won't. He needs to be able to protect himself against the union. Push him and yourself as far as you can. Then I'll send someone else over to push you even further." River looked at the pair with raised eyebrows. "Understood?"

"Uhm no offence but I have done pretty well so far... super good at running and if you are running righting isn't necessary."

"And if you're cornered? I won't have you caught and spilling our secrets," River replied. "You're a liability if you can't defend yourself. And we are in too precarious a situation to allow liabilities."

Tevon but his bottom lip to keep from spilling out any more bright ideas. He was sure that if he said one mroe thing she wouldn't have any issue rearranging his face a smidge.

She took his silence as compliance and turned, going back to instruct the others.

"She scares me too," August said with a soft laugh.

"well that makes me feel even more scared." he said quietly, "well I know nothing about combat unless its in the video game sense."

"Don't worry," August shrugged. "I'll go easy on you." He led Tevon over to the side. "Do you want to start with weapons or hand to hand?"

he looked around and then back at August taking a deep breath, " uhm...I..." suddenly he reached up lightly tapping Augusts face then hopped back his hands up ready to block anything a tiny grin on his face

August laughed and settled himself into a fighting stance. "Keep your feet apart, it gives you better balance," he instructed, demonstrating with his own feet. His hands were up, just at his chest level. He lunged forward and hit Tevon in the gut.

though his hand landed against Tevon's stomach Tevon had moved back away from the lunge. grabbing August's outstretched arm he rolled in thrusting his elbow up to connect with August's chin

He jammed his free elbow into his side and tore away, grinning. "You're a liar," he accused.

Tevon Grimaced but grinned through it," took a little hand to hand to see if I was as good as I am in video games." he chuckled putting his hands up again loose on his feet, "now what?" he asked then turned his hand palms up and and motioned August towards him with his fingers

August rolled his eyes and went at the other man again, not so easily this time.

River watched from across the room. So he wasn't completely defenseless. But that didn't get him out of the practice.

Tevon managed to block most of the blows but when he attacked he opened himself up to a hit to the face knocking his glasses off and causing his nose to sputter red. stumbling back he hissed against the pain

August grinned and grabbed a towel from the pile on the table to the side. "Here," he offered it to Tevon. "Tilt your head back. It'll stop the flow." He picked up the man's glasses and offered those as well.

he nodded a thanks as he tilted his head back, "you got me good."

"Practice, man. It takes practice and uh, fear, I guess." August grinned and wiped his forehead.

"Fear?" Tevon asked his eyebrows pulling together

"You know what the Union does to us if they find us?" hid voice dropped to a whisper, he didn't want River overhearing this. "It's torture and then experiments. They torture you till you tell everything and then they use your for their experiments."

"well if that doesn't light a fire under someone nothing will." he said pulling the towel away from his face and looking at the dark spot that his blood had made, "anyone you know ever gone in and never come out?"

"Before you showed up, a big group got picked up. 5 of our people." August replied. "Haven't seen them since."

Brit looked up as the computer beeped. "The test is done. The simulation said it worked."


Athena stepped up beside River, "how's he doing?" She asked, looking out at Tevon

"So rats then?" Nicholas asked. The new batch was ready, he was surprised at how businesslike she'd become. "Should you notify anyone?"

"Decent. He knows a little more than we expected, but August was still able to give him a bloody nose. So he still has a lot to learn." She replied. "And Greg wants you practicing hand to hand."

"Just one rat," she said. "I'll wait till after we test it on the rat, I don't want to get anyones hopes up."

"Alright, when?" Athena asked. "Should I grab my stuff now."

Nicholas agreed. "Okay. I'll get the syringe ready."

"Yes. I can have August give Tevon a break," river decided. "Go get your things."

"Oh man..." tevon wiped his nose with the back of his hand, "I'm sorry."

The door slammed behind him the windows in his office rattling a little. the rage that he had tried to calm at the cells had just been building and it was breaking through. he wasn't one to let his temper get the better of him...ever, but this time it was so much more than just his temper. the next thing to make a noise was his desk. in a matter of seconds he grabbed the lip that overhung at the back of the desk and in one sweep managed to topple it over and move it nearly three feet away from him. Letting out something a kin to the roar of the hulk Loren could feel them springing to his eyes. How could he? How could he? why hadn't he seen it? the computer spritzed and buzzed before it died under the oak desk and Loren just stared at it. Xander said He was good with computer. he wasn't good enough.

August shrugged. "It happens. I just hope they died, instead of getting taken in."

Ooc: who did you have in mind to respond to the Loren thread?

Brit nodded, "all right, I'll get the rat." She pulled her gloves on and went to get the rat.

Athena nodded and walked back to her room and grabbed her things. She returned a few minutes later. "Ready."