Aberrant: Dead Rising - Reintegration

[SkyLion]

Jon watched as the flying men departed, carrying their sled of companions. Their mission had been successful but by all accounts poorly executed. Gabrielle, not as naive as as her innocent looks would suggest, remained with her people, stepping into a position of leadership to those who so badly needed guidance that they sought it out in an imaginary friend in the sky.

If only I could hold such hopeful delusions...

Yet still for Jon, this day had not been for naught. Something had changed for him and he no longer felt posessed by strange demons. He was whole again although this was not entriely without consequence. The leeches' consciousness was primordial, concerned only with feeding and survival. To that end they had restructured his DNA, making him stronger, faster, more resilient. In order to accept his new life, he had to accept the killer within, something which civilized man had long distanced himself from.

As the sled diminished into the horizon, Jon steeled himself for the hunt and allowed the bloodlust to rise.

[SkyLion]

Talk about gut feelings. As he immersed himself fully into the instincts he had shied from, Jon could practically taste the blood all around him.

This must be what a bloodhound experiences only amplified. Such distinctive flavor unique to each individual.

The zombies stood out quite clearly with their dead odor. The plasma was not totally stagnant however, as whatever method the virus cocktail employed to reanimate the body it still functioned through the musculosketal system. Therefore even though the hear no longer beat, the electrical signals contracting the muscles did act as vascular pressure, especially from the valves located in the legs. The undead would be his first targets, for practice.

He kept the parasites nearby at first, allowing them to extend and attack while still attached. Then, to test the range and depth of his newfound control he allowed them to roam and hunt on their own, a technique that brought the effectivness of pack hunting tactics. He found that he could sense effectively through his remote "partners," enabling him to scout out potentially dangerous areas with less risk. To further test his resiliency and control, Jon held them back from feeding, giving in just enough for a taste of coagulated plasma before moving on. Even with a tiny ammount, the narcotic effect of feeding was heady, and Jon noted the commensurate increase in his abilities.

Finally it was time for a "live" test.

Jon could "taste" the sweet sanguine scent on the wind...a male boar in rut. As a hunter, Jon found his talents lay more in harry and pursuit. Unlike ambush predators, who needed to conserve energy and who lived or died by the success of a stealthy approach, Jon was all endurance. His stamina seemed limitless and combined with his speed meant that his pray was hopelessly outmatched.

Even as the boar raised it's head in alarm, Jon was upon it with primal ferocity. It squeeled in protest as the sinewy worm slithered out from Jon's armpit, spiraled down his arm and looped around the creatures neck with a pythonian grip. Frothing with terror, the razorback lashed out at Jon, catching him in the gut with it's deadly tusks. New to the life and death struggle of nature, Jon was caught by surprise and gasped as his belly sliced open...had he been human, he would have surely watched as his entrails evacutated themselves into the leaves at his feet. But, he was no longer human. Instead of a fatal disembowlment, the second parasite rammed forward and plunged it's own lethal teeth into the neck of the hapless creature with such lightning speed that the cervical vertbrae were instantaneously shattered, resulting in it's quick, brutal, and humane death. The impersonal and and emotionless dance of predator and prey.

Jon noticed that he felt no pain from his wound only to discover that it had completely healed of it's own accord. The leeches gorged and gorged until the carcass of the boar was an emaciated husk, drawing it's power and life essence into him in an intoxicating mockery of aboriginal ritual. The beast must have weighed at least a hundred kilos and Jon marveld at his capacity for consumption. That would certainly explain his own maddening hunger, his analytical mind mulled through the metallic rush of warm blood coating his insides. His own heightened systems must somehow metabolise the blood to sustain the ongoing genetic mutations he had been tracking. The thought reminded him of home, of Maddy, and his promise to return to her. She was in a bad place, and while she owed him nothing, he could not help but feel indebted to her.

Calling upon his now sated strength, Jon propelled himself into the dusky light towards the only person in the world who truly cared about him.

[Dawn OOC]

Maddie stood, staring at the computer monitor. She wasn't seeing it. She was just staring at it, running the scalpel in her hand lightly up and down the arm of her coat. An alarm sounded, and Maddie blinked and stirred. Once, she would have jumped and run to see what was going on. Instead, she moved normally, making no haste as she went to the computer monitoring security. It was Jon. She felt a little bit of disappointment that it wasn't an actual threat, and then she felt tired, because she'd have to pretend to be alright, and then she felt guilty because he was good to her and didn't deserve her reaction to him.

She started to the door to greet him, then remembered the scalpel in her hand. She didn't remember picking it up. Frowning, she put it down and went to meet Jon.

[SkyLion]

Jon made his way through automated security as was the custom, then down the elvator to the more secure part of the compound. Madison was waiting for him when the door opened and Jon could tell immediately that she wasn't doing well.

When the elevator door opened Jon was smiling. There was something different about him, about the way he held himself. He stood taller, which at his height was impressive and his shoulders were squard in a manner incongruous with his recent depression. It also gave him a vaguely dangerous slant as if the predators within had externalized themselves into his body language. That combined with his air of comfort and confidence certainly made him seem far sexier than than he had been of late. The aura of danger carried with it a primal instinctual response in the doctor that brought a reminder that she was still alive and very much a woman.

As soon as he saw her and took stock however she watched his smile fade into a frown of concern.

"Maddy, are you okay? You aren't looking too good." The smile reappeared. "Hey! We're busting you outta this joint. Everyone is headed back to Fox's and we're going to join them. They might even have a party! C'mon, lets pick you out some clothes to bring and I'll drive."

He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him, hoping his enthusaism would be...infectious.

[Dawn OOC]

Maddie smiled. "Ok," she said simply, letting him pull her along. "What kind of clothes should I pack? Dresses, work clothes?"

"Both, anything," Jon said, smiling. "Whatever you want, Maddie." He spun her into a pseudo-dance step, spinning her down the hallway. She smiled again, a sad smile that hurt his heart to see. He told himself again that she'd be better after they were at the Refuge for a while.

A short time later, they were in one of the vehicles, headed north. Maddie watched the scenery roll by, mostly being silent. After a bit, she asked, "What are they like? The people we're going to see?"

[SkyLion]

"A motley crew really." Jon answered. "Some are ex military, some simple survivors...the world is as random as ever. And there are many like us. But...that isn't what you were really asking me. You want to know what they are like."

He mused.

"Fox is the Captain of the base and a damn sight for sore eyes if I say so myself. He's like a living image of patriotism. I can't quite put my finger on it but he's really... inspiring."

"Theres Doctor Shattuck. She is...at once bound to reason and conflicted by it. I think we have all seen our faiths tested in these days. I think she is a good person, as noble as Fox if not moreso."

"Then there is Priest..he seems pretty level headed...and sharp. Called me out immediately. Knew I was...afllicted." Jon frowned before quickly changing the subject.

"There is James and Violet. When we first arrived we were warned about them. The woman is said to have mind control powers and that together with her brute boyfriend is trying to control Fox. I'm not so sure about that but they would definitely be at home on Springer from what I've heard." he said with a laugh.

"Listen theres alot of them. A whole community of hundreds...and I should probably let you discover them on your own..."

He let the statement hover in the air for a few moments.

"Maddy..." "Will you open up to me. I'm doing eveything I can here but no matter what I do I feel like there is this terrible wieght between us. Talk to me babe. What's going on?"

[Dawn OOC]

"They sound wonderful," she said, smiling. Maddie had been smiling a little as he talked about the people. She was looking forward to meeting them, talking to them and, more importantly, being around them. The closer they got, the more excited she felt; she tried to imagine speaking with them, interacting with them, and found that she wasn't sure how to do that anymore. She bit her lip and watched the scenery go by.

Jon's words jarred her out of her fugue. She pressed her hand to her face and sighed. "I've just been a bit blue lately," she confessed, embarrassed that she hadn't been able to hide it. "There's so much going on, and we haven't made as much progress as I'd hoped we'd would on the cure." Her face crumpled as she finally put words to the fear that had been plaguing her for a while. "What if... what if there's no cure?"

[SkyLion]

"There is always a cure." Jon answered in his usual analytic. "The so-called "incurable diseases" have merely elluded us due to a lack of either observational tools or a lack of complete understanding. And we are fortunate...the retrovirus seems to have the potential for positive cognitive effects as well. It's really just a matter of time."

He pauses. "But I suppose you mean to say what if we run out of time... The best answer I can give you is that we give it our all and we either suceed or we die trying. That's the way it has always been for humanity. It's just now the stakes are more transparent. No media or society to keep us in perpetual distraction."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Just...for now, forget about being a scientist. Think of this as a much deserved vacation. Tell me you weren't the type to take your laptop and cell to the beach..." he mock-deadpanned trying to cheer her up.

[Dawn OOC]

"I was the type that didn't go to the beach," Maddie said with a little smile. "I didn't take vacation, really. Even if I was forced to take vacation time, I usually spent it reading scientific journals and the like."

She looked at him. "That's what I miss the most, you know," she said softly. "I miss being able to see what others are researching. I have nightmares about us doing experiments that are proven to be failures by someone else, but that we couldn't know we were wasting our time. It's what scares me more than anything else - that we're doomed without the greater scientific community."

[SkyLion]

Jon nodded, correcting their course around several vehicles abandoned on the highway.

"There will be other survivors, I am certain of it." he replied. "This isn't the Dark Ages just yet. Alot of nowledge remains to be salvaged. True, we might not have the peer review we'ld really like, but then again, neither did the great pioneers of science."

He glanced over at her, so close and yet so distant. He reached over and stroked a bit of face away from her porcelein skin, marveling not for the first time at how beautiful she was. He hoped she could tell, but said nothing further in attempt to cheer her up. Sometimes, he knew, they just wanted you to be with them, without trying to fix it.

[Dawn OOC]

The relatively short drive was quiet but pleasant; Maddie held his hand for the rest of the trip. She became more animated when they drove into the valley where Fox's Refuge was nestled. Her eyes were wider as she looked at the buildings and all the people.

At the gate, Jon had to cajole them to let her in without the quarantine; she still had to be examined before they relented, and let her in. Dr. Singh gave her a clean bill of health.

She seemed almost shy around people, now that she was here. She remained close to Jon, her eyes darting from person to person, clearly anxious.

[SkyLion]

"C'mon, let me introduce you..." Jon said, grabbing her arm reassuringly and leading her into the camp. "I wonder who we'll meet first?"

Click to reveal..

If any PC's would like to jump in (save Violet who for continuities sake will meet her later in What it's like) feel free. Otherwise I am sure Dawn can cook up something with Jules or another NPC.