WAOA Arena

[Slenn]

<color=blue>"I also can't recall Tamriel. I come from a place called the Reformed European American Territories on a planet titled Earth. And I can tell by your attire and your fitness, that you are very athletic and strong. I can tell you also have a strong opinion on matters concerning hierarchy. In my eyes, I don't think you're low class at all. In fact I think you're very interesting. At this point in time where everyone has no memory of each other, we might as well be even. Humans in my own history books have always made racial boundaries, but yet that idea diminishes because there are always those that side with the victims of racial insults and treatment. Who knows, maybe some day in your world you'll come across a human who sides with you in this opinion." She shrugged.

 

[Random berk]

"Such humans do exist." Dromaeus confirmed. "But they have all been abused just as much as I or any of my kind, either by their own, or just as commonly by the Elven races. I have yet to hear of a wealthy man who would treat an Argonian, Orc or Khajiit as an equal, or of any of these races to rise to a position of great power in human dominated society."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen looked over, nodding a bit and smiling a small bit. She hadn't expected to find someone she could relate with in a place like this. [color=bb0066] "I see... I must've been... hard. I've had to do the same with someone I loved as well... Actually the first person who ever loved me for me... and not because of my powers." [/color] She scratched the back of her head a small bit while looking down.

 

[Random berk]

"Something like that just eats away at you."James said, leaning forward in his seat with his head bowed. He chuckled slightly, more an empty gasp than a sound expressing humour. "I think if I met myself from ten years ago in the street, I wouldn't even be able to identify with myself." He looked up at Carmen again.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened? I mean... how did it come to that?"

 

[Slenn]

<color=blue>"Well.... all I could say to that is such unfortunate times don't last forever. You never know. There will probably be a day when a higher class will stand up for you. At first this person may be berated, but may start some followers. This person may not succeed at first, but it will probably inspire a later higher class to try even harder."

She yawned.

<color=blue>"It is getting late. And I'm tired. I'll be heading to my bedroom. It was very nice talking to you." She got up from her stool. She bowed her head and curtseyed. <color=blue>"And my name is EMily. The 'EM' is for electromagnetism." She shook her head for a bit with a quizzical face. <color=blue>"I think I just had a bit of deja vu. In any case, goodnight." She made a polite smile before Gwen made her leave as well.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"Really? Not one? I don't think so. There's gotta be someone who, even if they don't say it publicly, treats people like you with respect."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen seemed to look into the distance for a moment. [color=bb0066] "Well... I don't mind that much. What had happened was that I was important to the side I was fighting on. The enemy sent that man to assassinate me in the quietest way possible. He took on the appearance of a demon... and we fell in love, or so I thought. I awoke one night with a blade pointed at my throat... and I had to defend myself." [/color]

She sighed and looked down again. [color=bb0066] "When the deed was done and I stood over his body, hurt and confused, he explained everything. He said he still loved me, that things would've been different were we not destined to be enemies. With his last breath, he reassured me that he loved me. I wasn't sure what to think or feel for months to come afterward." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

Dromaeus grunted a farewell to EMily as she was leaving. He groaned in response to Laguna.

"I have no idea if a small number of humans hold these beliefs, I have never met them! Have I not made it clear enough that I do not habitually associate with them?" He snapped.

James's expression was sympathetic as he listened to the first part of Carmen's story. As she described her lover's final confession however, he was clearly shocked.

"Wh-what? 'Destined to be enemies'? How is that a reasonable... how could he still... I don't... Jesus!" He gasped. "Carmen... hell, I don't know what to say about that, honestly. I don't understand how anyone could claim to love a person, while plotting to kill them right from the beginning. That isn't just wrong, that's fucking insane." He sighed. "I can't imagine what you must have been thinking yourself after that. I don't know what's worse, having to kill a loved one to ensure the safety of yourself and the rest of your people, or to find that they were playing you from the start... I'm sorry."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen nodded and bit her lip a small bit. [color=bb0066] "They were probably holding something dear from him. Maybe threatening his family or something equivalent. That's what I told myself after some time, but I'm not even sure if it's true or not..." [/color] She shook her head slightly, trying to hold back something. [color=bb0066] "...Never mind it... Thinking about it now won't change the fact that it happened." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

James stood up and went to the bar, grabbing a couple of glasses.

"This is the kind of talk that demands a certain amount of drink." He said to Carmen as he went. "Whether you need to loosen your tongue, or just feel better about it afterwards. What'll you have?"

 

[Gearhead mk2]

"I was just saying, there's gotta be someone out there. Heck, I'm a president, so I probably count." Laguna stood. "I'm getting pretty tired, so I'm gonna head off. But one last thing: like it or not, you are gonna haveta socialise. I'd suggest getting a head start. If you ever wanna talk to me, say the word." Laguna gave a salute and exited the lounge.

OoC: I'm off. Night.

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen smiled a small bit as she walked along with James. [color=bb0066] "I'll just take a wine of some sort. Alcohol is one of the go-to's for those... hard nights, even in Hell." [/color]

 

[Random berk]

Dromaeus shook his head in exasperation at Laguna's persistence as he walked off.

James grinned and quickly selected a 6 year old red wine off the rack, before grabbing a bottle of dry cider from underneath the counter.

"It was mostly tobacco where I came from. Alcohol was something that we loved of course, but it was never a good idea to get drunk. Anything could go wrong at any time, and if a horde of undead somehow got into a fortified position or some similar situation and you were too hammered to hold a gun steady or to run without falling on your face, well... you wouldn't have to worry about the hangover in the morning. Cigarettes on the other hand were good for relaxing without seriously impairing your performance. Most of the guys in my division were fiends for them, myself included." He finished pouring the drinks and handed the wine to Carmen before raising his own glass.

"To memories. May we not be able to remember them for several hours after this."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen nodded and clinked her glass against James' raised one and taking a small swig. [color=bb0066] "To forgetting memories." [/color] She seemed to tilt her head a bit, finally picking up on James talking about zombies. [color=bb0066] "You fight the undead? When you said you were fighting ghouls, I assumed you were some kind of exorcist. Did a necromancer of some sort go rouge in your world to create so many undead that you needed to organize against them?" [/color]

 

[Random berk]

James laughed out loud at this.
"An exorcist? Do I look like the kind of person who deals with a problem by chanting hymns and waving around sticks of incense?" He exclaimed. "No, I was a Major in a military quarantine and extermination outfit. The dead were the result of a virus that went pandemic, killing billions of people and reanimating their bodies as flesh eating automatons. There was no intelligent design behind it, simply the plague spreading through channels of least resistance as quickly as possible back before there was any way to combat it."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen seemed to be a bit taken back by James' laughter. [color=bb0066] "You'd be surprised what an exorcist looks like in my world. And those methods are a bit outdated." [/color] She nodded along with his explanation as well as she took another swig. [color=bb0066] "So this virus was spread due to negligence or something of that like? Human error at work, correct?" [/color]

 

[Random berk]

"Negligence and a lack of understanding in the early days, yeah. For example, hospitals were usually ground zero for the first major outbreaks. Bite victims were brought it, died, reanimated and then attacked medical staff and other patients who then died in turn. Police forces were hit badly at the start as well, because they didn't know what they were dealing with. When the number of dead started to rise into the millions, various national militaries started to mobilise, but their weapons and tactics were no good against enemies like that. They would form massed lines and open up on the dead with artillery, bombers, assault weapons and the like. Stuff designed to cause massive trauma to large groups. But since these weaponns focused on stopping power and wide areas of destruction rather than pinpoint accuracy to destroy the brain, the majority of the ghouls just kept getting up after taking hits that would kill a living human. They swarmed the infantry lines and massacred them. Trillions of dollars worth of military equipment became useless and huge numbers of personnel joined the undead swarms. The majority of casualties died in the first year or two. But by the third or fourth year, that meant billions of them. They outnumbered the living by a huge amount." James recounted the early history of the zombie war with detached objectivity, obviously far more calm and professional than when he described the personal cost of such a plague.

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen listened for a moment and nodded. [color=bb0066] "I see. That's quite unfortunate that such destruction was caused by a string of mistakes. And you were there from the beginning, I presume? And do you think there's any feasible chance that you'll be able to rebuild your society back to the way it was?" [/color]

 

[Random berk]

"I was just a regular teenager when the shit hit the fan." James replied, finishing his drink. "About to start college, more interested in hanging out with my friends and girlfriend than any worldwide matters. It wasn't until the plague hit my home city that I really got involved. My older brother Mike had been paying attention to the news of the plague, and started making plans and real preparations to survive. As things got worse he had me and my family start training in the skills we'd need to survive. When the plague came to the south, where we lived, we gathered as many of our family and friends as we could and hit the road. We had everything we could get and we did ok for a time." His expression darkened, and he lowered his voice a little.

"But it couldn't last. Over the course of four years we lost people one by one, sometimes several in a single attack. My friends, my family... it came down to myself and Mike by the end. We... god damn it, I hate talking about this." He stopped and took a deep breath.
"Long story short, by the time the surviving governments got their shit together and deployed their armies effectively, I was the only one left. I was infected, but the virus didn't turn me. I reacted to it somehow, and after being picked up, tested and experimented on by the British military intelligence, I ended up with the enhanced speed, strength and healing abilities that I have now. I joined CEQ division, and several years later, here I am."

He grabbed another bottle of cider before continuing.
"They were actually looking at rebuilding just recently. Before I ended up here, I heard reports on plans for a 'controlled breeding program' amongst the small groups of survivors in each theatre of war."

 

[DotSlash]

Carmen took another swig, nodding a bit. [color=bb0066] Then his brother must've been the one he put down... A shame, indeed. "Interesting... Are there other humans with your abilities in this CEQ division? And 'controlled breeding'? Are they just throwing people into a room and playing 'mood music' to get them started off?" [/color]