D.I.C.E(Game Thread/PM to Join)

[deathbydeath]

"Didn't even have time to tie back my hair."

Aaron waved for Sophia to follow him and said: "Come with me, I believe that there are a few demons lurking around L2." She did, and the two walked up a stairwell to the semi-ruined Division 2 level. One thing that was sure about magic-users, they were fond of collateral damage. Aaron walked to a particularly destroyed section of hallway where nothing was left except for the floor and a wall and stopped. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette box and a lighter. He opened the box, revealing several neat rows of hand-rolled tobacco, put one in his mouth, and offered the box to Sophia. As he did so, he asked Sophie a question:

"Sophia, may I ask you about how you feel about DICE as an organization?"

 

[Ultraman950]

"Sophia, may I ask you about how you feel about DICE as an organization?"

Well that came outta nowhere, she thought, scratching her head. "Uh... Well, they pay me, and give me weapons, and they let me protect people... There's not much more I can ask for, so I like it okay. Why? What do you think?"

Despite honestly thinking about the question, she kept her head on a swivel. She wasn't gonna relax until someone gave the all-clear. And maybe the constant movement would help her hair dry faster.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar laughed in her cell. "Adriana isn't in here and neither is her sugar daddy. They let Demons in using devices with safeguards, safeguards which require a lot of damage or tampering to fail. It wasn't damaged before hand and I doubt the other man's device was either." Azkar stood up and leaned against the cell door. "I knew the Demons would keep chasing me, Adriana was refusing to give up a device which was being used by her and her cohort to leak Demons into the base, intentionally or not. I dealt with one of the portal devices and acquired..." Azkar smirked "'resources' that can be used to great effect. Gift horse and such."

Azkar looked up at the roof towards a series of cameras. "In conclusion, all of my anti D.I.C.E activities were performed on an agent who inexplicably managed to let Demons inside the base and refused to report it. Also the damage from her portals has caused quite severe damage and potential lose of life, whereas my damage was just a device used against D.I.C.E and some aesthetic concrete, I also didn't interrupt portal operations, apparently." she pointed at Richard as she said this. Azkar stared at the cameras for about a minute. Then her cage door beeped and slid open.

Azkar stepped out with an air of authority "Next time tell your bandaged friend to go through official channels when imprisoning an agent taking initiative to deal with a security problem posed by unreliable agents." Azkar's face was blank and annoyed, as if she was telling off children. Her expression then changed, followed by giggles "I didn't really think to mention that, but yeah." She then poked her tongue out at the lieutenant "I wouldn't be expecting a raise."
Azkar wasn't sure where that train of thought had come from, but it worked. With a shrug she grabbed Richard by the sleeve and started tugging him towards the door "Come on then."

 

[Shadowstar38]

Next time tell your bandaged friend to go through official channels when imprisoning an agent taking initiative to deal with a security problem posed by unreliable agents." ed by unreliable agents."

With that, Azkar grabbed Richard's arm and started pulling him towards the door. The Lieutenant calmed walked behind then and formed some magic aura around his hand into a blade. With a quick motion, he sliced off both of Azkar's legs and sent her falling to the floor.

"Hang on for just a sec"

The Lieutenant walked over to a table with an iron box on it and removed a metal collar from it, along with a remote.

"You know, you really have to stop that petty arrogance you have. It gets grating"

The man popped the collar around Azkar's neck and reattached her legs enough for her to hell them herself. He then pushed a button on the controller and sent 10,000 watts of electricity through the girl's body.

"Now you may leave. And please don't mess around with that thing"

The Lieutenant then quitely walked out the room, leaving the two alone.

 

[Nouw]

Wait what? Exploring my psyche? As in, 'looking-through-my-history-and-personality' psyche?
"Yes, do humans have another level of psyche I don't know about!? You don't seem like the mage type, then again looks can be-"
What the FUCK?

Danny banged his head against the top of the vent.

"Is there a problem?"
Wuh-uh...

Danny was at a loss for words. Being physically violated he could somewhat handle, but having his mind probed and examined was crossing the line. He had never felt so vulnerable before and just wanted to black out and forget who he was when he woke up, if he ever did. At least that way he wouldn't have to deal with the humiliation of being mentally harassed. After his vision began to blur, the blood forced him to stop. He would have continued into unconsciousness if it wasn't for its intervention. In fact, it was possible that it was too late.

"It appears that I was wrong, you are not as strong as I thought. Bu-"
Go fuck yourself.
"-t, I have decided to lose my findings. I only wanted to get to know you better and it appears that I went about it the wrong way. Sorry my dear chap."

As the blood said that, blood began to trickle down his nose. He wiped it off with his hand and saw in the reflection his dad. He immediately slammed it against the vent and wiped it all off. The information stored in there was highly sensitive and Danny didn't feel much better with it out in the open. He was still relieved, however, that the blood had some understanding.

Is your other blood going to pick it up?
"Of course."
That won't do.

Danny pulled out his handgun and prepared to fire. He wasn't going to shoot the blood, only mark the vent he was in so he could come back later and ask an agent to collect it and freeze it somewhere.

"Err I still wouldn't do that."
Watch me.

He turned away from the gun and fired, only for the vent to collapse down. He was stuck at the bottom and the blood was creeping down like a torrent of angry jam. In desperation he shot the blood only for the vent to stoop even lower and for the blood to fall on him. It was disgusting, having a sticky liquid move about in your body. It really was as if a thousand worms had just landed on him.

"Told you so."
Don't remind me. What next?
"Wait for the blood silly!

Danny didn't need to be told what that meant. The blood began to slither up his body and forced itself in through a small cut it made. He couldn't help but scream in agony; the sensation of something moving seeping into your body was overwhelming. It didn't even hurt, it just felt very wrong. After the blood was finished, Danny shot upon the vent and fell into a janitorial room. The blood with the sensitive content in it was still slowly dripping down and Danny didn't wait for it to finish. He looked for some kind of container to keep it in and found an empty bottle. After it was all in, Danny closed it and walked outside.

"Hello, uh agent? Could you send this back to D.I.C.E. and tell them to keep it safe? Freeze it, and lock it up somewhere," Danny told the first agent he saw and passed the bottle to their safe hands. He had faith in this organization to not exploit it and keep it safe. It was in the very nature of the organization, after all, to contain.

Now, how about you get to know me better? Better than dwelling on what I just went through haha.

Danny didn't know whether he was joking or being serious, and so neither did the blood. The least it could do was oblige him, and so it did.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

The lieutenant turned around, failed to notice the remote gently leave his hand and quietly made his way out of the room. He was gone. Azkar rolled her eyes, the sadist was too busy trying to escape and hide his boner over torturing people to notice her pilfer the remote right out of his hand, which was quite a feat considering she had to lean up off the floor quickly without legs and quivering with rage and pain.
Azkar flicked the master release button on the remote and took the collar off. Then let herself fall back on the floor. She didn't think the lieutenant was very intelligent. He witnessed the tremendous amount of difficulty it took her body to passively heal a wound before she had to bind herself to contain the energies inside her. Now because of that inbred sadist she didn't have any f*cking legs.

Azkar cringed and groaned as her bleeding slowed to a stop. She took off her shirt and ripped it in half. Using it to bandage her new stumps which were barely a few centimeters long. It seems her healing abilities weren't very amazing. But it beat dying. Azkar looked back at Richard, over the short amount of time that had passed her eyes had become lighter and she had become much paler. "I hope the portal room has wheelchair access." She gave a dry laugh and slumped back onto her back. She was so getting that twat fired.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Come on then."

Azkar said, and grabbed his sleeve to pull him away. It was a good thing that DICE realized the fail that had happened then, for more than one reason. However, suddenly Azkar fell to the ground, both of her legs gone. The lieutenant said something, but Richard was too surprised to catch the words. It took him a few breaths to realize what had really happened. The other man then put a collar around her neck. He pushed a button, which electrocuted Azkar, before saying;

"Now you may leave. And please don't mess around with that thing"

And leaving the room.

"Azkar?" Richard asked, looking at her as she opened the collar and removed it. It seemed that the electric shock had caused her to become worse again, but she'd survive. Her legs, however, wasn't attached to her body, and while the wound was healing a bit, her legs didn't reattach.

"I hope the portal room has wheelchair access."

Azkar joked, wearily.

Okay, so Richard may or may not have flipped through the contract without caring too much about most details, but that collar and... putting someone in the cells and physically harming them before having proved that what they did was wrong, and then attempting to use them for experiments as punishment... cutting their legs off... Richard stopped breathing. The camera was up there, right? DICE had watched the whole thing, yet they had let this happen, as well as let the lieutenant do as he pleased.

Was this how a military organization took care of stuff? "I'm presuming," he said loudly, looking into the same camera. "That you people are sending a healer or mage or whatever!" Silence. No sign of that they had even heard him. "Seriously..." How could they--- no, of course they could. This was why he didn't trust them, they just cared about using people. He had to get out of there, somehow. Richard went over to Azkar. "You want me to carry you? I'd still like to go to France." Of course that wasn't it, however, he was still wary of the cameras. He leaned over her, trying to help her sit up, and whispered; "Azkar, I don't want to be a part of DICE anymore, would you consider leaving with me?"

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar gave a weak smile as Richard helped her sit up, whispering back "Considering the state of their health plan, I may just be partial to the idea." she then continued "Look on the bright side, at least I've lost weight."

Azkar tentatively touched her bandaged legs. The pain was pretty much gone now. "But seriously, I think I'm going to need leave now anyway. We might as well go to France now. Just don't ask me to go bike riding. I never learnt how to." Azkar smirked at her bad joke. She also contemplated removing some of her wards, but without much time to dwell on it or create balance, she'd probably just end up killing herself for good. With a sigh, Azkar reached her arms out towards Richard. "I won't be able to hold on to your back without legs, mind carrying me?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"I won't be able to hold on to your back without legs, mind carrying me?"

"Mind carrying you? I-- Of course," he lifted her up instantly. Although he wasn't that strong, Azkar without her legs was extremely light. "I'll.. Ehm... bring your legs, just in case... if you want to, there are are people able to reattach them... but I don't think DICE wants you to walk anymore..." Looking at what had happened, they didn't want that. Still, he waited for her to chose, no way Richard could decide whether or not to leave her legs, or trust DICE. He wasn't sure he was speaking carefully because she was hurt, or because he was still in shock from what had happened. Not much made an impression on him, this had.

 

[Azkar Almsivi]

Azkar reached down and grabbed her legs, one after the other. She then lifted the cut off pants legs on both of them and covered the gore, before holding them against her chest. "Well, we might as well be on our way then. Considering how retarded D.I.C.E leadership is, I doubt we could find someone capable of fixing me without interference here." Azkar shrugged, then shuddered at her legs "This is ridiculous. Just dump me in my room and find a wheelchair, also you might as well incinerate the legs in a furnace or something, better then D.I.C.E doing weird shit to them. Plus traveling around with Human legs in France would be a little sussed."
Azkar figured after she got a better grip on her new completeness she'd be able to heal herself. Either way, her legs were starting to creep her out.

 

[deathbydeath]

Aaron, seeing that Sophia wasn't accepting his offer of a cigarette, closed the box and returned it to it's home in his jacket pocket, lighting the one in his mouth while he did so. He inhaled deeply while Sophia made her response.

"Uh... Well, they pay me, and give me weapons, and they let me protect people... There's not much more I can ask for, so I like it okay. Why? What do you think?"

Sophia's simple and frank response caused Aaron to chuckle, but the smoke floating through his mouth transformed that laughter into a hacking cough. When Aaron calmed his lungs, he gave his response. "That has got to be one of the most surprisingly indifferent statements that I've heard recently. I'm not attempting to belittle you or anything, it's just that interacting with (probably) the most powerful organization on the planet that is both indispensable due to their monopoly, and ethically flexible at best, people's opinions tend to be closer to either end of the emotional spectrum."

His jocular demeanor faded away as he reached this point in the conversation. His face didn't become hard and harsh, but it became serious and up-front. "I'll be honest with you, Sophia Marshall. I believe that DICE has too much power, and I'm not alone. I'm sure that you already know the basics of capitalism, so I'll get to the point. Every free business works best when there is competition, and that is simply something that doesn't exist in DICE's case. Combine the near-absolute power they bring, as well as the solid grey their moral compass lies in, and you have a recipe for immanent disaster. The reason I'm approaching you now, Sophia, is because you could be a wonderful ally to me. I will be a part of the Second Coming, Ms. Marshall, and I want you by my side as it happens."

 

[Shadowstar38]

"Now that business has been dealt with, would the two of you mind explaining to us who exactly the hell you are; since no one has ever seen you around her before. Also, explain yourselves for what just happened, since the way I see it, you two were the cause of all this."

"That will be enough Miss Isabelle," A female voice said in a calm, smooth tone. "I'll take it from here"

A blond woman in a light blue dress stepped off the lift. She looked to be in her mid thirties, and was carrying and ivory staff. This was Christina Noble. Leader of Division 2

"Isaac. When I said you could come by the base, I did not say you could bring these creatures with you"

"My bad. It was totally accidental"

"Isaac. 'My bad' wouldn't have covered it if one of my people had gotten killed. You were being utterly reckless to the point of stupidity. Why no one bothered to arrest you when this all started is beyond me"

Isaac gave a dejected look and bowed his head.

"Sorry. I really didn't know it would end up like this. I'll be more careful next time I come in."

Christina sighed lightly, still not really satisfied, but moved on anyway.

"In any case, you said you found out something about this new enemy?"

"Oh. Yeah. The decay. Kouza or whatever. The biggest number of them are being spotted near London. That's probably their origin point. Also, I came across one of your people's labs in France was hacked into and given a virus. We don't know who did it, only that from descriptions, he had one of those Kouza with him. He know jack crap other than that. Oh. And this guy has fought one before apparently"

Isaac lifted up a blood stained Eligor for Noble to see.

"Same here with these two," Adriana interrupted, pointing at Isabelle and Garath.

"Huh. Really. What was that like? Oh! And more importantly, who was leading the mission? We all might be able to compare notes"

 

[Ultraman950]

"... I will be a part of the Second Coming, Ms. Marshall, and I want you by my side as it happens."

Sophia scowled and waved the smoke away from her face. "Why do you all of a sudden sound like a comic book villain? And what's this Second Coming crap? Look... DICE is hardly perfect, okay? But... well, what is? The moral grey is a necessity for us, because we have to do things nobody else would think of doing. Not the sane ones, anyway. Yesterday, I gutted three demons like pigs in a roadhouse and spent several hours drenched in their blood. Y'know how much sleep I lost over that? Not a wink. And if I had, I wouldn't be in any shape to take on the things that we have to take on. I may not be a good person, but what kind of good person would be able to do this job like we do?"

She pinched at her nose. "And would you please put that out? Those things'll kill you."

 

[deathbydeath]

"Y'know how much sleep I lost over that? Not a wink. And if I had, I wouldn't be in any shape to take on the things that we have to take on. I may not be a good person, but what kind of good person would be able to do this job like we do?"

Aaron shrugged nonchalantly at her point. "For the record, being able to act with clarity in moral grey areas is a trait that I value. If you are so capable of doing the right thing unflinchingly, then why hesitate to do the right thing in this case? DICE is too power for both its own good as well as that of the world's, no matter your stance on the moral spectrum. Also, you are entirely at your own free will here. While I implore you to join me, I will not retaliate if you refuse, and I won't stop you even if you report me to the higher-ups. If you are in need of convincing, however, I have some information you'd like to see, but it's not on my person now, for obvious reasons. I recommend you take a look at it, it's certainly worth your time."

When he was done, he obeyed Sophia's wishes and extinguished his cigarette. "Very well, but just because they can kill me doesn't mean that something else will beat it to the punch." He returned the half-finished paper cylinder to its box, just as he heard a clean-up crew approaching them down the hall.

"I do hope you honestly consider my offer, Sophia. We're not as bad as you think." The clean-up crew was clearly audible at this point, but not within eyesight. Aaron made the cigarette box disappear, and his hand vanished.

Sophie reeled back, clutching her face, feeling the warm touch of blood roll down her face. Before she could get a good look at Aaron again, she clearly heard the words exit his mouth.

"Damn half-demon"

 

[Ultraman950]

"Damn half-demon"

Sophie swung her fist blindly at Aaron, intending to at least break his nose, then opened her eyes and delivered a proper jab to his stomach, chest, and throat before finishing up with a shin to his groin before pinning him to the wall, holding him almost a foot off the ground. Her expression could best be described as a combination of "I'll kill you" and "But not before hurting you for a long time".

"I want you. To say that. Again. Bearing in mind that I have a short temper and can break cement blocks with my face."

 

[deathbydeath]

"I want you. To say that. Again. Bearing in mind that I have a short temper and can break cement blocks with my face."

No words left Aaron's lips (he could barely breathe), but his grin spoke volumes.

As the clean-up crew rounded the corner, they saw the debacle before them and rushed in to break up the fight. Both combatants were lead away, with stern words to both about how this incident would be reported. Aaron could barely stand up straight, and he was coughing so violently a slight red mist appeared every so often. If you listened, though, you might mistake it for laughter.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"That will be enough Miss Isabelle." A female voice said in a calm, smooth tone. "I'll take it from here." Isabelle turned around and saw a blond haired woman in her mid to late thirties, wearing a light blue dress, and sporting an ivory staff; there was only one person in the base that fit the description, her superior and Division Two head, Christina Noble. Both were respected members and rather high up in the echelon of command for their respective division. After taking a moment to calm down and breathe, Isabelle politely stepped back and allowed Christina to question Isaac and Adriana.

"Fair enough and if you so wish, please continue." Isabelle said politely as she sheathed her sword.

"Apologies for the way I acted just now, its just that figuring these two were inadvertantly involved for an indirect attack on our base; warranted at least a few questions to be asked."

"Huh. Really. What was that like? Oh! And more importantly, who was leading the mission? We all might be able to compare notes." Isaac asked after interupting Adriana.

"In a single word, bloody; and rather painful for the Kouza that we killed, seeing as though that one person was apparently attacking it from the inside, another was using acid shotgun shells; and that myself had used ice elemental magic as a means to slow down its attacks. The Kouza Prime came as a result of the team I was leading in Russia to search for survivors, whilst another team was sent to investigate a local facility in the area."

 

[IFS]

"Huh. Really. What was that like? Oh! And more importantly, who was leading the mission? We all might be able to compare notes"

Garath nodded, he let Isabelle explain their encounter with the prime in Russia, then spoke up, "I managed to speak with one of the Kouza that invaded the facility, and learned several things from it, they're made of a combination of demons and one human, they were sent by a specter called Zorama for the purpose of capturing mages, does that name mean anything to you?"

He looked over at Isaac, and a thought occurred to him, wasn't his last name specter? And Christina had said that he led the demons here, was he the specter the Kouza had meant? He shook his head, that was highly unlikely, and throwing baseless accusations around would do little to help matters.

He turned his attention back to Christina, waiting for her to respond to his information. He hoped she knew something about this Zorama, and that they could track him down.

 

[Terratina.]

Eligor was covered in blood and was desperate for a little cleaning. Just being held there, all bloody and with little bits of Kouza sticking to the blade wasn't the best way to look with the head of Division Two staring at him. But was somewhat reassuring to see Isabelle there again, even if they weren't the closest of friends. Nevertheless, that question remained. Who was this guy who kicked a demon with a bomb all the way to Detroit? The man seemed to be rather reckless in that respect, but then again D.I.C.E. had let some reckless people join throughout the past, just look at all the half-demons here. Blood and brimstone was a potent mix, Eligor remembered when they were used as shock troopers - but mostly cannon fodder as well - in the wars caused by the eternal power struggles within Hell. Poor mutts. Eligor opened his eye only to find that he had to blink rapidly to stop the flood of blood entering it. Isabelle was just going through the events of the previous mission in a by-the-book manner while Isaac was recovering from the harsh words of the Division Two head, but still looked like a kicked puppy. Eligor was tempted to yawn.

"Huh. Really. What was that like? Oh! And more importantly, who was leading the mission? We all might be able to compare notes."

Eligor went against yawning, as that question needed answering, "And even more importantly, who exactly are you? I believe we were cut off by the Kouza in our last conversion."

"In a single word, bloody; and rather painful for the Kouza that we killed, seeing as though that one person was apparently attacking it from the inside, another was using acid shotgun shells; and that myself had used ice elemental magic as a means to slow down its attacks. The Kouza Prime came as a result of the team I was leading in Russia to search for survivors, whilst another team was sent to investigate a local facility in the area."

Right after that little speech, he began to project the gentlemanly image of himself, as it was only the polite thing to do and swiftly replied afterwards, "Oh yes, bloody. Possibly more bloody than the blade is at this moment." He said with a chuckle. Hopefully the hint wouldn't be lost on little Isaac.

 

[Ultraman950]

On their way out of the superior's office, Sophia's glowing eyes appraised Aaron maliciously. "What the hell are you trying to do?" she whispered. "Did you get possessed while I wasn't looking? You're not doing a very good job of convincing me to do whatever, just so you know, moron."