Countdown!!!! RE-alignment-ALITY

[Argus Steele]

Plans were finalized, a game plan set. Stay alert. Stay alive. Jared (Eve's version) was able to get one of the NWI's special Hummers for the trip out to the particular stretch of highway that they discussed earlier. Jared was driving, while in the passenger seat sat his medieval counterpart. Talk about having a conversation with ones self! Brehnic sat behind Jared, typing on a Blackberry. Eve would be seated behind Pirate, leaving Evan in the rear with a bemused expression etched onto his features. No quips, no smart axs remarks; he had nothing to say at the moment, unbelievably.

The two Jareds on the other hand were gabbing away like there was no tomorrow, exchanging thoughts and theories on what was happening around them, and comparing notes on Argus. Eve would be drawn into this conversation when Jared glanced at her in the rear view mirror. "Let me get this straight: There was another Argus where you were at, and he went by Tohmaz? Hmph. I reckon that's a step up from ... Heh, Tommy."

Eve had only been listening with half an ear to the conversation, otherwise staring out the window, replaying the strange train of events in her mind. It was all so bizarre, and made her feel as if she were going in circles; the last thing she really wanted to end up doing was to repeat some of the more catastrophic events. She wasn't expecting this little trip to be a very good one, and was more than a touch concerned about whatever might be waiting at that stretch of highway - if anything at all. Last time it had been hxllhounds; would it be similar now, or some entirely new evil? Breathing a quiet sigh, she looked forward, then realized that Jared had been looking her way. "Huh?" Quick backtrack. "Oh. Yeah. The look on his face was kind of funny when I called him 'Theo' the first time. I don't think he liked the name 'Argus' much, though." A little shake of her head. "It was...trippy."

Pirate slowly nodded, weighing her words with great care. "It sounds like Tohmaz an' Argus be the same, an' possibly the one I know as well. Arion gave me this lil' trinket here tha' should pick up on any faint traces left behind by Argus, hopefully."

Jared shook his head as they made a right, driving onto the main highway. It was mid-week, so there wasn't too much traffic to encounter this late at night. "We tried everything we had at the NWI, and he just up and vanished on us. So if you can prove us wrong, I'll be more than happy to take whatever we can get at this point. The brass wasn't too happy with Brehnic an' myself running off with the increased Daemon sightings going on. We need all the man power we can muster just for the rotating shifts."

Brehnic wouldn't comment out loud, only nodded his head in agreement as he continued working on his Blackberry. By this time Evan was sitting sideways, looking through the rear tinted windows, and still hadn't made a peep.

Pirate would pause long enough to take a bite from an apple. "One thin' about Argus. Iffin' he didnae wan' to be found, no one could, not even Devantious or Arion. His brothers."

Jared shook his head slowly again, "Great, he has family now? I guess if there's some uber hot female version of us running about, anything is possible. Ten minutes ETA, folks."

"I suppose we should be hoping that he wants to be found, then." Her voice was even, if not a touch quiet. She threw a glance between the two men in the front, one at Brehnic, then half-twisted on the seat to look back at Evan. "You're awfully quiet back there. No smart-alecky comments or anything?" Or maybe he was about as tense as she was, particularly considering what they'd learned up to this point in time - about the situation as a whole, and about Argus himself.

"Nothing you really want to hear right now." A semi-forced smile, then he returned to looking back out the window. Brehnic caught the short exchange between the two and glanced at Eve, then Evan. It was none of his business, so he held his tongue on that subject and wrapped up what he had been working on. "Hey, Jared."

Both would respond at the same time, even with the tone and style of speaking. "Um, this one, sorry guy. We have a little breathing room with the brass for now. I simply told them the truth: We're looking into a new lead concerning one of our own, Mr. Theodore Argus Steele. Long as we don't waste too much time and report back, we're good. I sort of forgot to mention the part about the wonder twins here. "

Jared gave his partner a knowing wink, as the Hummer pulled off to the side of the highway, then down the hill slowly. Pirate was looking into his tri-corder scanning for any faint traces of their missing comrade. Jared pulled to a stop, turning to look at all involved. "We do this by the numbers. I give an order, you follow it, no questions asked. Problem with that, you stay inside the hummer."

Evan had already turned back around, facing the rest of the group, when Jared made his little speech. "You're the boss. Follow your lead. Got it." Not even an ounce of sarcasm in his tone.

She'd given Evan and long look after he'd given her that smile, as if weighing his words. Her expression didn't give much away about her own thoughts, and that in itself might have said something; she only seemed to get it when she didn't want to outright give away what she was thinking, or if those thoughts had taken on a darker tone. Both seemed the usual as of late.

During Jared's little speech, she'd stared at him, then merely nodded. Hoping he'd know how to deal with whatever came about better than she would. She suspected that everyone else had training of some sort to fall back on, if it came to it. Eve...didn't. Not technically, though she'd learned quite a lot since the first meeting with Argus Steele. "Yeah. I've got that." Being too-tense and over-anxious wasn't going to help her out much; Eve took a moment to just breathe, will herself to be calm - for the most part. A little rush of adrenaline didn't hurt much to help her stay alert.

Both Jareds took the point as they left the Hummer for the abandoned oil fields ahead of them. To quote a phrase? It was quiet. A little *too* quiet. Even Evan had slipped into a military like mindset, even with his special abilities, he was well armed. Eve would be naturally paired with him, as Brehnic covered their rear. Each of them wore a specially made Bluetooth, as well a pair of goggles that allowed them to see into every known, and some unknown, spectrums.

"All is as quiet back here, Jared. Does not look like anything's been around here in quite sometime."

Jared would switch on his scanner as the group found themselves on an old dirt road. "Roger that. Same here, but when you're in the business of the Paranormal, it's always too quiet. Okay, Elf, where was it that you had your encounter? Maybe we can match up something."

The equipment took some getting used to, but Eve had managed to keep from fiddling with anything too much. Just a little technophobic, there. "It was -"

It happened so abruptly that it hit her like a sledgehammer between the eyes. She was on the ground, the coppery taste of blood in her mouth and trickling from one corner of her lips. Eve hurt, but it wasn't serious - just confusing. The figure that loomed over her made it even more so, as it seemed to be...well...herself. Nora? "You're the reason I learned to hate my first name!" Disgust dripped from her duplicate's voice.

Just like that, it was over. Eve realized she'd stopped cold but was still standing, and that she was so tense her fingers had curled into fists, nails biting into her skin. Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Eve threw a look at Evan. *That* was good for getting the adrenaline flowing! "...The hxll was that?" Breathless, and not feeling a bit better about any of this.

Evan knew that look: She'd had a vision. Brehnic had also stopped, but for entirely different reason. "You get that? Something just spiked big time on my reader, but too fast for me to get a decent lock on it. No fxcking way! Group, you're not going to believe this, but this oil field was shut down because of too many accidents. Some of the workers claimed it was - get this - haunted! It was just sent to me. "

Jared continued looking around, holding their present position. "Bloody figures. Those buggers covered it up all nice an' neat too. Set weapons on Paranormal Level One. If it's not part of the group, shoot it."

Eve would get that 'you okay?' nudge from Evan even as the group slowly proceeded once again.

A little more wide eyed than usual, but Eve offered a slight shake of her head in response to Evan's nudge, and said one single word. "Nora."

What Brehnic was saying got her attention about then, and she flexed her hands slowly and drew a slow, deep breath. "Haunted. Does it mention anything about disappearances?" Not that she was really put at ease either way, but it might have given her a slightly better idea of what to expect. Having calmed a little, Eve tapped into that flow of energy and drew her own Shields into place - both mental *and* physical.

...It was about this time that she realized that she was the only one without a weapon. Oh, lovely - not that she would have known how to use it, anyway. Clicking the goggles on with chilled fingers, she threw a look around to orient herself.

"Jared? Um, both of you. Check out the sky. Do those clouds look a little off to you? Sort of like two halves of a picture that aren't lined up properly? Daemon illusion." Evan held out his arm, stopping Eve from taking another step. "I've seen something like this before, back on my world. Be careful. Rune traps are probably all about. Any chance of us shedding some light on the subject?"

Pirate gave him a look then, recalling what happened the *last* time Evan needed light for something. "I'm nae seein' any mystic traps, o' runes. Methinks jus' illusions to ward off any nosy folks, an' let word o' mouth about it bein' haunted to scare off the rest."

Brehnic was adjusting reader, making sure he wouldn't be surprised. "That sounds all neat and clean Jared-2, but what about those that stumble across the oil field, or those that are stupid enough to venture here any way?"

(m) "They'd become either food, or test subjects for the Daemons." Evan said matter of factly. "I agree with Pirate. Unless there's anything major out here, the Daemons won't waste major magic protecting the place."

Jared would look at Eve again. "You never did answer me about where you had your encounter, Elf."

"...Maybe a bit of both." Failed tests could become food - or the discarded. The idea drew a cold line down her spine, and Eve shivered briefly. "It was...just off the road - the, um, hounds, I mean. It really *started* on the road. She was Channeling and we went through a guard rail, down a hill..." She was looking around, seeking something that looked familiar. The scenery of that night had become something of a blur in her mind, overshadowed by the appearance of the souls and the hounds themselves. "We stopped at the bottom of the hill somehow, and things went from bad to worse."

"Hm. Guard rail. Bottom of the hill. Better odds on finding a needle in a haystack, kiddo." Jared didn't bother to hide the fact that Eve's answer annoyed him. She hadn't been trained like he had, and that lack of details could cost them the chance of finding Steele. A deep sigh escaped him and he motioned to Brehnic. "You and I are gonna scout ahead. Pirate, you keep an eye on the wonder twins. We'll call you if we need backup."

Pirate nodded, walking over to where the two Lizts stood. Evan didn't mind being left behind; he had resources of his own to pull from. Calling upon his memories of what happened on his own world, he began to count the stars.

"Yeah, well pardon the hxll out of me if I was a lot more concerned with the fact that *your* alternate's head seemed to be about to explode at the time." Eve didn't bother to hide the acid in her voice at Jared's annoyance. The only reason she didn't keep talking was because she snapped her mouth shut with an audible click of her teeth, and took a deep breath - pointedly turning away from the others for a moment. Tensions were high, and she wanted to find Steele as much as anyone else, but the feeling that all of this was pretty much her fault was beginning to be too much. If she'd been able to figure out how to Shift back sooner after entering Evan's reality - *and* without things getting all screwy - maybe Steele wouldn't have gone hunting her and subsequently gone MIA. Letting a sigh hiss out between her teeth, she curled and uncurled her fingers slowly. "Guilt will *not* help, dxmmit." Whispered to herself before turning back to those still at hand. Jared and Brehnic were scouting. Good. She didn't mind being left behind, for the moment.

Pirate placed his hand on Eve's shoulder. "He is not upset wit' ye Eve, only the fruitless situation he finds himself in. If he is like me, then losin' a friend an' unable to doin' anything about tis rather taxin'. Ye are doin' fine considerin' the facts. I'm glad ye here watchin' me back." Each spoken word was completely sincere, as was the tone that match it. He gave her shoulder a squeeze before directing his attention towards Evan, who was still counting the stars in the sky.

"Twenty-three, Twenty-four, Twenty-five, Twenty-seven...Wait.... Twenty-five... Twenty-seven.... Bingo! Jared, I found the Seam. You and Brehnic should be near the edge of the spell soon. Look for anything that's ... well, crooked." Turning back towards the other two, Evan began giving Eve a series of nudges, trying for one of three results:

1) She breaks down and smiles.
2) She slugs him for being annoying when she's *not* in the mood.
3) Or he gets the trademark Lizt empty eyed doll expression.

Pirate was more interested at the meaning of this 'Seam' he'd spoken of.

"Mmm. Then he can feel free to join the club." The stress was taking a toll. She withdrew gently and gave her shoulders a roll in an effort to ease the tension from them, then sighed. "Everyone else has some kind of formal training to fall back on. I don't. There was just too much going on at the time for my memory to exactly be photographic - unless you want to know what the dead bodies and hxllhounds that were there looked and smelled like." She'd relived that one a time or two in her nightmares.

At Evan's nudges, she'd given him a nudge back in the side, but didn't break and smile. "What exactly is the Seam?" She could hazard a guess, but would prefer to have it confirmed by him.


"Unless you're dealing with a Daemon Lord, the illusions usually have Seams. The bigger the spell, the more noticeable the Seam ... which would be harder to see at night."

Evan's explanation would be cut short, as Brehnic's voice would be heard through the Bluetooth. "You three better catch up with us. I found something ... Interesting, to say the least."

Evan gave Eve a puzzled look. "Well, at least he didn't sound overly concerned, so it can't be all bad news, right?"

Pirate would follow behind them, and his scanner would begin to make faint sounds. "Eve? A moment, if you please."

"So you don't think -" Her question cut off at hearing Brehnic on the Bluetooth, and her brows drew together. The fact that Brehnic didn't sound worried really didn't do much to put her at ease; this place in itself made her skin crawl.

Eve kept pace with Evan, but at Pirate's words, she threw Evan a quizzical look, but paused. "Yeah. What is it?"

He pressed the scanner into her hands with a wink and a smile. Saying nothing more, he escorted her to where Evan waited and eventually to where the other two were.

Brehnic was scanning the area, while Jared was messing with the ground. The area in front of them looked different somehow, not right. Was this that Seam Evan had spoken of? Brehnic would be the first to speak of what they found. "Over there, about five clicks south, Jared found a body, or what was left of one. Then I found one there." Pointing. "Then another there." Pointing again in seven more seemingly random directions and bringing the count up to ten.

Jared continued. "All of you, log each body into your map area as we found them.... "

Evan's eyes grew wide as he found that randomly placed bodies were not so random; they formed a pentagram. What might send a chill through Eve's soul was where the center of the huge pentagram was displayed: It was right where she had that sudden vision. From where she presently stood, she had a direct line of sight right back up the hill, to the highway, where Jara had her attack back in the other realm! If they were in a movie, *Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN* would be heard by all right about then.


Eve eyed Pirate for a moment before looking down at the scanner in her hands, and giving a half-hearted shrug. She hadn't exactly envied him having it, but at least it made her feel slightly more useful.

As the three of them approached Jared and Brehnic, the back of Eve's neck had started to prickle. Something...wasn't right. The ground didn't look right, not at all, and...bodies? Staring back up the hill, the fingers of one hand gripping the scanner tightly, the young woman spoke quietly. "Jared. This is it." Not that it couldn't have been obvious or anything.

Tearing her eyes away from the rise, she took another look around, and the vision flashed through her head again. This was where it had happened, wasn't it? Reflexively she reinforced her Shields, and glanced around. "I-I think this is where it happened, what I Saw a few minutes ago. Where I Saw Nora." Spoken mostly to Evan, because she'd know that *he* knew the look, if no one else did.


Evan went to shout a warning, but it was too late. A crimson glow enveloped each partially buried body, reforming the large pentagram they all stood within. Once the last body was activated, the center of the pentagram exploded outward, all inside of it were teleported away. The hummer would be found the next day, with no trace of it's owner. Another disappearance. Another mystery. And for those not aware of Daemons? They would never see the Seam.


It *looked* like where she'd encountered Nora, but the teleportation was unexpected. She'd expected an encounter with some Daemon brood or another rather than that, but neither was terribly pleasing. "What in the bloody hell...?" Murmured to herself as her senses righted themselves from being...scrambled. Or that's how it felt, at least.

As hearing became more than white noise offset with a high screech, she realized that the scanner in her hand was going off. Eve took a look at it, recalling what Pirate had said - it was attuned to find *Steele.* "Oh my God." Well, there was a little bright spot. With it going off like that, he had to be somewhere near...didn't he? Eve looked around, trying to orient herself with the device.


Evan's eyes narrowed, adjusting to the flash, then the sudden darkness. A few taps of the buttons on the side of his goggles, and he could see once more. The others had already done the same, and were making sure everyone was accounted for.

The Bluetooths were spouting nothing but static, and so were all the scanners - save for one. The oil field had been replaced by walls and floors of hard cold concrete. They looked to be in a sub level of some sort. Evan frowned again, due to the fact that he couldn't *hear* Eve, though he could see that she was close by. (w) "Where the hxll are we?"


"The same place we *keep* ending up in. Stonebridge." A second longer of looking around. "Somewhere in the sub-basement, it looks like." Annoyed with the Bluetooth, Eve pulled it off for the moment in order to better hear the scanner. "Attuned to Steele?" Turning to the other four, she held the device up, arching that left brow at Pirate. She watched the sound level of her voice, though she half-figured their presence was noticed. *Hoping* not, but not banking on it, especially with the way her luck had been running lately.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ October 07, 2007 04:42 PM: Message edited by: Tohmaz A. Steele ]</font>

[Argus Steele]

"Not likely. It smells dank, musty. Check out the walls: lead paint, and it's flaky in some spots. There's nothing coming up on the scanners, but the goggles are not picking up on anything except Pirate's scanner. How come?"

Pirate would grin, tapping his temple. " Be thankin' Arion for that. He figur'd they would hav' a strong enough grasp of our realm's technology to block it, so he did some further upgradin' on this, an' the goggles."

Jared let loose a sigh of relief. "Then let us take advantage of this small breather, just in case we *did* set something off by tripping the pentagram thing."

Evan raised his hand. "Major problem. No powers, no abilities. Nada. Nil. Negative, cappy! And I'm willing to bet Eve doesn't either! It's gotta be Cromwell."

"My point exactly. Dank, musty, and lots of lead paint. That's Stonebridge for you." A little distracted as she looked at the scanner, then tried to figure out exactly *where* they were. Great. Getting lost there wasn't a good thing...

"I'm sure it's Cromwell. Probably some sort of psychic entrapment and neutralization." Eve shrugged, brows drawing together. She had nothing, and didn't like it. Funny, nearly any other time she'd have loved to ditch the abilities; now, she *really* wanted them back. "They put that collar on me before, remember Evan? Might be the same principle, just..expanded."

Nervous, anyone? Note the blank-eyed expression, and her inability to be completely still. She *was* flexing the fingers of her free hand before putting both on the scanner, pointedly. "Alright, so at least this works." The one bright spot in the entire scenario, particularly since it seemed to be picking up on Steele's presence. Eve only hoped that it was right, and hadn't been fooled somehow.

Pirate peered over her shoulder to read the scanner. "He was here, tha's fer sure. Cannae say how long ago though. All in agreement we be movin' along now?"

Evan already had his hand up. He was used to his abilities, to the point to where they were a part of him. Not having them now left him feeling...weird.

"Elf? How far down are we?" Jared asked as he took point once again.

"Guess you're our tour guide on this one," Brehnic said.

At least they were keeping their senses of humor, even if it was in a dangerous spot. Since she had the one working scanner, Eve was first, with Jared a close second. Then Evan, with Brehnic and Pirate covering the rear.

Eve could appreciate how Evan felt; before it was like having a fast-flowing stream in her head, one she could easily tap. Now, it was as if someone had built a dam further upstream and diverted it elsewhere. Nodding, she took a deep breath. Taking point wasn't preferable, but she understood the reasoning; she was familiar with Stonebridge, or most of it.
"I think we're in the second level of the subbasement. It looks like the level that a lot of the old equipment was stored on." The lower levels were creepy, undeniably; she'd gotten loose once soon after being committed and made it down that far. Of course, that's what she'd gotten for not knowing the layout at the time; rather than finding an exit, she'd come across rooms with old rusting wheelchairs and some peculiar, medieval looking devices that she could only suppose were for restraint or treatment. She'd made the mistake of touching one and was hit so hard with a vision that it had knocked her out...

"The morgue used to be down here, before they moved it to the Physicians Ward." Comforting, but she was thinking aloud. Trying to remind herself. Her memory was a bit fuzzy on some points, and she found herself puzzled at an intersection in the halls where there shouldn't have been one. There she stopped, frowning and uneasy. "...This..It's like it's grown. The sub-levels weren't *this* big." Looking at a door on her right, Eve peered at the narrow, dirty tag on it, then reached up to swipe a little of it away - just enough to make the wording legible. Storage Room C. "There were stairs here before, along this hall, near this room." Funny to remember a little detail like the room name; it had been the one she'd ducked into in an effort to hide after a breakneck run through the building those years ago.


Evan frowned; he knew what was going to be suggested next, and it was like being in one of those B-movie horror flicks. He waited for it.

Jared suggested they split up. He and Brenhic would take the west side, while the rest would take the scanner and try and find Steele. Simple enough, right? "Dude, splitting up is the *last* thing we need to be doing!"

Jared understood Evan's concern, but time was against them at the moment. "Look, you have Eve, and she knows the layout ... Pretty much. We haven't been noticed yet, and we need to take advantage of this before we are. You three have the scanner, so find him! We'll provide the distraction if needed." A thumbs up given before the pair went stealth down the hall.


Facepalm. She'd ended up peering at Jared though her fingers for a moment, wondering *what* B-movie they'd fallen into. Splitting up usually meant people were going to die, and Eve *really* wanted to avoid that. And she just hadn't convinced herself yet that their presence was unnoticed. Evan had made the point more eloquently that she could, but she sighed and shook her head. "Possible, but what if he's being used as bait, somehow?" The fact that neither she nor Evan could access those abilities was off to her; granted, it might have been a constant for those low levels now, but even then...

Too late. The pair was gone, and short of screaming down the hall, there was no getting them back. "Okay guys, I'm saying it again: Cromwell's bunch either expanded it or it...um....grew." An uncomfortable shift of her shoulders, but she looked down at the scanner. "Let's hope my sense of direction down here won't be too skewed and that it really hasn't moved that
much." And that Steele wouldn't be hard to find. Just the fact that he was *in* this place didn't bode well, not at all.

After making a left at the branch in the hall and venturing a few yards down, she heard something. It was faint, but she heard it, just over the sound of the scanner. Looking between the other two men, she whispered, "Do you hear that?" Singing, and it sounded like a child's voice - the high pitch of a little girl.


She was there, down at the far end of the hallway, partially covered by the shadows: A little girl dressed in ragged and torn Stonebridge blue garments. Dark, unruly hair covered her face and she was playing with a rat.

Evan was so close to Eve that he was almost her shadow. (w) "B-movie! B-movie! B-movie!"

Pirate glanced at Eve. (w) "Your call, Eve." The girl hadn't noticed them yet; she continued playing with the rat as if it were a pet. Steele's readings would lead them right past that little girl.


She'd stopped a healthy distance away, and just stared for a long moment. A glance from the girl to the scanner confirmed that *yes,* they'd have to pass her to get where they wanted to go. Joy. "Beautiful." Whispered with a healthy dose of sarcasm, and she gave her head a little shake. "We don't have a lot of choice, unless we try to find another route around, which could either take ages, or might not even exist." Hurriedly whispered words, but Eve had that feeling of unreality kicking in again. "Um...tell me that both of you guys still have your weapons? And that you'll have them ready." She was really hoping not to interact with the kid at all; better if they could slip past unnoticed. If she was just a child that had been pulled into this mess somehow, then maybe she could do something for her later. Now..."We have to try." A glance between the two, and her features had taken on that emptiness. Eve moved quietly, carefully, keeping an eye on the girl and even quieting the scanner briefly.


Weapons? Check. Ready? Check. Working? Hopefully. Evan was recalling nearly every Japanese movie he'd ever seen, and in each of them there was *always* some young girl crawling out of - or along - something.

The little girl still didn't notice the approach of the trio, keeping to herself. The rat suddenly began to squeal, which caused Evan to freeze in his tracks. The squealing became louder, until the sound of bones cracking echoed throughout the hall. She'd broken its neck! Poking at it, the singing had stopped, giving way to a series of grunts and whines as she urged the limp rat to move once again. When it didn't, the girl threw one hxll of a temper tantrum, grabbing the rat by its tail, beating it against the wall.


Eve had frozen the second the squealing had started, waiting for all hxll to break loose, for the little girl to show her true colors as some nasty Daemon or another. The death of the rat and her subsequent temper
tantrum wasn't expected, but Eve took the chance to move a little more on quick, light feet - to dart out of such close range from the kid. Stopping again, she looked back at Jared and Evan, eyes flickering to the girl again - where her gaze locked onto something else, something almost lost beneath the unruly strands of the girl's hair, nearly masked by the low light. Squinting at it, she looked at Evan once more and pointedly tapped her neck with her
fingertip to indicate what she believed to be a collar much like what had been used to restrain her before.


There were times when one had to wonder if Evan was mentally challenged; he began looking at Eve's neck closely instead, not grasping what she meant. Pirate, on the other hand, got it and quietly mouthed the words, "Your call." During all of this, the girl had stopped beating the bloody lump that was once the rat, and began crying. In between sobs she was speaking what could best described as gibberish, then her head snapped in the direction of the shadowed trio down the hall from her. Falling onto her backside, she began to scoot away at a frantic pace, her cries now wailing, and sounding a bit like a warning.


And Evan was usually the sharper of the two of them. Eve would have smacked herself on the forehead if she hadn't been worried that it would be noticed. At least Jared had understood, even if the response hadn't been that helpful.

A little hesitantly, Eve sank into a slow kneel, keeping her eyes focused on the girl, and she even managed what she hoped was a comforting smile - not that she was really sure the kid understood. "Where are you going? It's okay, we won't hurt you." Keeping her voice soft, tones almost sing-song. She wished she had a flashlight on her, something to provide a little more illumination, both so she could have a better look and so the
girl could better see; they probably didn't look like much aside from shadows in the dimness.

Still, her paranoia level was high; she more than half-expected the kid to change on her, or some new critter to pop out.


Impact. The first was the fist out nowhere, striking Eve right in the mouth. The second was Eve landing right on her backside with a small trail of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Standing over the small child was another girl, also wearing the Stonebridge garments and also sporting a larger, thicker collar. Her face, however, wasn't covered by unruly hair, and it was like staring into a mirror.

"Eve!" Evan shouted as he ran to her aid, only to get knocked out from behind. Pirate was smart enough to hold his hands out where they could be seen and make no sudden movements.

The sound of bare feet and slippers could be heard on the concrete floor, the shadowed figures views of several others lurked around them, whispering to one another. The small child was clinging to the one who stood over Eve, giving her a look of disgust. "He called you Eve? I'm *really* starting to hate that name!"


While she'd expected *something,* it hadn't actually been that. Taking the punch in the mouth, but luckily she was low enough to the ground that it toppled her onto her backside, and made her whack her left shoulder against the concrete wall. The first impulse was to leap back up, but she reigned it in. The coppery taste of blood was in her mouth, and she felt a little trickle of it from the corner of her mouth. A scowl knit her brows together as she threw a quick look around, then stared back at...herself. Surprise, surprise. "I've gotten to hate the name Nora, so join the club, and back off." She didn't really want to fight with herself. Bracing one hand on the ground, Eve righted her posture a little - not getting up, but slowly shifting her arm so that her shoulder didn't feel so wrenched. "Great. Not just teleportation, but apparently another Shift, too. So what, the general population's moved down here now?" Good sense said she should shut her yap, but her mouth took a second longer to catch up to that command. Just. Wonderful.

But wait...there hadn't been any kids at Stonebridge before, had there? Something about it made Eve look from Nora to the little girl again. Leaning forward a little, squinting at the child, trying to peer through the dark tangle of her hair...

Eve pulled back with a shock and a little gasp of surprise. The child's face was a ruin, her features distorted and ran together like melted wax. Eve's mouth hung open slightly as she glanced from the child to Nora, then to the figures that were moving in the hall around them. "All of them...?" Confusion flashed across her features, and she looked to Pirate. All of the figures were her! And strangely, there was something wrong with each one of them - a disfigurement of some sort - *save* for the girl that had hit her. "What in hell is this?"

[Argus Steele]

Evan wasn't sure what to think. It all still felt like some sort of very bad B-movie: Lost in a sub level area that was lit by secondary generators, with a dank musky smell permeating everything from lack of use. Then there were the sub level dwellers that lurked within those hallways, each one a copy of Eve. Yep, horrible B-movie. Yet, it was his realm twin that he was more concerned about; if his own theory was correct, then this may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Both he and she were already tightly wound as it was, so it could only take a little more...

The *normal* looking one seemed to be in charge. The others stood behind her, all staring at Eve, their expressions varied. Wonderment. Disgust. Disbelief. "You have quite the mouth on you, girl. Better reign it in, before we cut out your tongue." That wasn't a threat by the tone of her voice, or her posture given. Whispers about how perfect this one looked, and that she was sent down to torture them after all this time could be heard.

Jared had observed enough and stepped forward to take charge of the situation. "It be obvious tha' ye be the one in charge, so wha' now?"

More whispering, before another disfigured version of Eve leaned in close to the original and sniffed her, before frowning. "Pretty-pretty-perfect-pretty. Why down here?"

The cut on her lower lip stung from the collision of Nora's fist with her mouth. A delicate touch to her mouth with her fingertips confirmed that it had stopped bleeding, and she wiped the little trail from the corner of her mouth away. Eve hadn't stopped looking at the others, and it was only now - and slowly - that she rose back to her feet. She even did a good job of keeping her hands at her sides, in clear sight. "Mmm." There was a smart alecky comment on the tip of her tongue from being told to shut up, but she managed to bite it back. Not easy, considering that her nerves were quite thoroughly rattled and that she could almost *hear* the -twang!- that had been one of the threads of her sanity. The idea of just -letting go- was getting more and more appealing...

Throwing another glance around at those present, Eve locked eyes with the other version of herself - the only other one without defect. "What is this place?" A quick flicker of her eyes toward the collar, then back up. Did the collars serve a different purpose here? Both she and Evan were being suppressed, so what did the collars do? Simply mark them, or something else entirely? "More to the point, what's wrong with everyone here?" She hadn't forgotten their little quest to find Steele, and realized that the scanner lay on the ground, right beside her left foot - quieted, for the moment.

Picking up the small girl from between her legs, Nora held her, brushing those unruly tangles away from her face. Her stare would match Eve's own, right down to the unstable intensity. Jared was quick to step in. "Wha' she meant was why all of ye' be wearin' the collars?"

More whispers could be heard through out the dim shadows of the hallway. Nora dismissed the male, still matching looks with Eve. "She knew what she was saying, little miss pretty-perfect. But are you really? Standing on the edge of the cliff, ready to jump. The waters of insanity look sooo inviting, don't they?" Chants of little pretty-pretty-perfect would follow, until Nora waved them all off.

"Hmmph. They must have finally perfected the dampeners. She doesn't have the inner glow, either." The little one she held, regarded the new arrival with keen interest, despite her features.

Evan would step forward just then, keeping his hands where everyone could see them, approaching Nora. "No more games. I'm Evan Lizt, a male version of all of you, from another reality. This wide eyed version next to me - " Pausing long enough to give Eve a much needed hip check. " - is Eve Lizt, this reality's version of all of you. If you're cut from the same cloth as this one, then all of you know I'm telling the truth, powers or not. Eve and I have some sort of bond, and I'm willing to bet you have one with each other down here." Pausing long enough to let what he said sink in before continuing. "Did Cromwell do this to all of you?" That must have been the magic word, because it became very quiet very quickly. All eyes were now on Eve and Evan.


"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Quietly spoken, with the slightest arch of her left brow. What bothered Eve about the entire thing is that they all looked like something had been *done* to them - whether before or after birth, but it didn't strike her as some normal birth defect, and certainly not in that number. She held Nora's stare for a moment longer before looking to the little girl, then glanced down. In a slow movement, Eve crouched down to pick up the scanner, then straightened. "This is Stonebridge, isn't it? It's just...changed from what I knew." A sweep of her eyes over the area they stood in, and she returned her gaze to the others. "It was him, wasn't it?" A flicker of eyes from Nora to one of the others, in the direction she'd heard the speaking in before. "And what do they mean, perfected the dampeners?" She liked to think that she kept up pretty well, but that one lost her a bit.


"Yours - And his. The inner glow. They put these on our necks to control it. You *are* the first. He does not lie." More whisperings of this latest revelation, as more versions of Eve stepped away from the shadows, curiosity drawing them closer to view the first.

Evan had picked up enough to form his own conclusion. "Um, Eve? They're clones. All of them." Once again, a hush filled the hall. Rubbing his chin, Evan looked around again, then glanced back at Nora. "Ooh, we have some friends that are wondering around here. One looks like him." Evan pointed at Pirate. "He's traveling with another, both dressed in black. "

Nora remained quiet, that trademark doll-eyed expression displayed for all to see. When she finally spoke, it was in an almost subdued tone. "We know who you speak of. They are safe. These halls are many, with more twists and turns than what lies within our own mind. The pathways will protect those who we do not deem a threat. Forgotten we have been. Placed down here, too shameful to be seen. Failures all of us. We are family, though. We are not a threat down here. They never come, never check."

Pirate was trying to get a head count when Nora noticed him. "There are thirty-nine of us." A look over at Eve. "Forty, now."


Clones, alternate versions of herself - it was hard to tell which was which, given that she'd dealt with a bit of both up to this point in time. Drawing a deep breath, Eve nodded slowly, and glanced down at the device in her hand. "There are the two wandering around here, but we're all looking for someone. A friend. The trail led us here. Have you seen him?" Looking down at the device, she turned it back on, raising the volume to a just-audible level.

Eve looked back up at Nora, her expression even, gaze level despite Nora's somewhat cryptic way of speaking. "Why did they deem you a failure?" Nora *looked* right, a mirror image of herself for all intents and purposes - so far as she could see. Of course, the idea of being 'the first' sent an icy chill down her spine, and she *just* managed to keep from shuddering. Creepier than usual, somehow. She only supposed it was that 'glow' they'd mentioned before. It puzzled her a bit, since she and Evan were both unable to use their own abilities - for now, at least.

"He did this to all of you, didn't he?" Speaking of Cromwell. The idea struck her as sad, and made her a little angry at the same time. To use and dispose of them, as if they were nothing more than lab rats.


Little Nora, who had been more than content to be held and listen, suddenly spoke. "Still."

That caused another hush through the hall, and even Nora had a startled look on her face. "Did you just talk?"

Little Nora seemed to be focused only on Eve, and said it again, haltingly. "Steal."


She'd caught herself staring at the little girl as well, a bit surprised. The three of them hadn't been around the little one long enough, given, but Eve had found herself believing that she couldn't talk - or wouldn't. Blinking in surprise, she stepped closer to the little girl, dared to reach up and brush the tangle of dark curls from her face. Slowly, not quite sure the child would let her touch her. "Yeah, that's right. Steele. Do you know where he is?"


"Steal!" A smile formed on those melted features, and tiny hands reached inside her tattered clothing to pull out Steele's sunglasses! "Still!" Placing them on Eve's face, the little girl wiggled free of Nora's grasp. She landed and ran through the others, the sound of her tiny feet racing down the hallway.

Pirate was already in hot pursuit, with Evan not too far behind. Left. Then left again. Right. Left. Ever try and catch a kid when they get in that run mode? Try catching one that knows where she's going. Just how big *were* the sub levels of Stonebridge? Left. Left again, then she finally slowed down at what appeared to be a dead end. The little girl stood in front of what should have been a door, but there was none; only a frame with a
wall behind it. Sitting down, little Nora caught her breath while staring at the wall. "Steal."


"Wait!" Eve still had the sunglasses in hand when she went running off with Evan and Pirate in pursuit of the little girl, but she didn't waste her breath saying anything else. Luckily, she was quick enough on her feet to keep up, even if the dimness of the passages did make it a bit harder than she liked. When she caught up to the child, Eve looked from her to the wall, squinting a little as she studied it. A door? The framework was there, but it almost looked like it had been...bricked up. Closed off. "What...?" Stepping closer, a frown creased her features as she examined it. She even reached up to touch it, if not a bit hesitantly.


(m) "Dawgee."

Jared was also studying the wall. "Hmmm. Dis looks like one o' de Realm Doors we used to travel by."

Nora and several others had also followed them. "She'd never spoken a single word before, then one day she wandered off for a few hours and came back with those glasses."

Evan was more focused on what the little girl had said just then. "What did she say? Dollgy? Dohlgi?"


"Doggy. She said 'doggy.'" A step back from the wall, and Eve drew a deep breath. What did that mean? Did it have something to do with Steele's supposed dual nature?

..Or something else entirely? The dog from Tohmaz's reality came to mind, and that thought made her release her breath in a hiss between her teeth. "Realm doors? How did it work, Jared?" Eve glanced at the scanner for reference, even turned up the volume a little more.


The scanner readings were off the charts, and the trail happened to end right where the door should have been. Little Nora seemed content to sit and watch all the grownups do whatever it was grownups did. Pirate was still examining the door. "Someone went out of their way to be blockin' this door on every level. Dis was a portal, but it's been nixed with some powerful magic."

Kneeling down by little Nora, Evan gave her his own glasses, which got a high pitch squeal from the girl. "Okay, we need to get the other Jared and Brehnic back here so we can plan our next move. Unless someone has an idea how to get beyond this wall, that is."


"Yeah, I second that." Realizing she still carried Steele's glasses, she opened the legs and perched them on the little girl's head, nesting them in her hair like a headband. She seemed to like glasses, and Eve was giving it 50/50 odds that Steele had given them to her. Turning the volume back down on the scanner, she sighed quietly and nudged Evan in the side. "We've got to find them, especially since we can't even access what we've got." Which was still just...weird. Funny that some time ago, Eve would have given almost anything to be rid of those abilities. Now...she wanted them back. "I'm surprised they weren't tailing us."


Pulling the glasses from her head, she held them up to Eve. "Steal!"

Evan leaned over to Eve and whispered so that only she would hear, "I guess your boyfriend just has that universal effect on all of you, no
matter what age, hmmm?"

Next thing Pirate knew was Evan was standing behind him with a smirk. "I thin' ye supposed to hav' those, Eve. Call it a hunch, but put 'em on and hav' a look around. Steele was always sneaky; hopefully he left a clue. De li'l one is still facin' the wall, like she be waitin' on somethin'. Wha' was dis about a dog?"


Eve hesitated for a second before taking the glasses back from the kid. She peered at them doubtfully before stepping up beside the two men, and quite simply dug an elbow into Evan's ribs for a quick payback. Then she slipped the glasses on and took a look around. Oh, look. The dark lenses made everything darker! "Um...The reality where Steele was Tohmaz, there was a dog. I think Amber was using it, but I was too stupid to realize it until afterward, when all hxll broke loose." A slow roll of her shoulders, managing to ease some of the tension out before speaking again, dropping her voice so that only the other two men would hear. "Unless she was talking about the thing with Steele." She didn't really want to elaborate on that one, mostly because she wasn't sure how much anyone else present knew.

With that long look around, the young woman's eyes caught on something. A step forward, and she peered closely at the wall beside the bricked-up spot. It *looked* like there was another doorway there, glowing just faintly. Well, that was something; with their abilities suppressed, neither she nor Evan would have been able to see it without help. "Hey...there's something here." Reaching out with one hand, she brought her fingertips close to the wall, then touched, delicately, testing.


Just air; there was nothing there! No one had any reason to venture down this far, so who would ever look? Little Nora watched Eve
touch the wall. "Dora!"

Evan tipped his head to one side. "What? The Explorer?"

Even Nora gave him an 'are you *that* dense?' look, before stepping next to Eve. "There had been rumors of a door that wasn't there here, but we
assumed it was something to give us false hope. I've never been down this part of the building before, myself. You have the see-through specs; I guess you get to see what's behind door number two." Yeah, there was that weird Lizt sense of humor.

"Even though Steele can't recall who he was, his Realm instincts are still intact. He must have tuned his glasses for the Eves ...Um, er, ah, Nora's to discover." Motioning to the little one. "Are you ready?" Looking at Eve.


"As I'll ever be." What might be waiting behind the 'door?' Eve raised the glasses up momentarily to eye the unseen door, then nodded briefly. "Yeah. But where are Jared and Brehnic?"


Nora looked at several of the others and nodded. They ran off in different directions, and Nora looked down at the child. "You stay here.
Let them know where we went, okay?" Looking back to the others, she gave them another Lizt stare. "Yes, I'm going too. If there's anything
on the other side that will help us get out, I'm taking that chance. Get moving, already."

Pirate glanced at Evan who nodded. "I'll stay with the kid and watch the door, just in case. Be safe people."

At closer range, Eve might notice that Nora's collar was different from the others. It was longer, thicker, and looked more like some sort of restraint. Nora met her gaze, before giving her a nudge closer to where the other door was. Several steps through the door brought forth several new sensations.

The first was the air - it smelled like death. There were countless operating tables scattered about, but no one was there. High tech equipment as far as the eye can see. The blood drained from Nora's face and she went pale as a ghost, taking a step backwards to collide with Pirate. Looking at what startled the girl, Pirate's own eyes went wide. There were at least four clear tubes that they could see, each filled with a blue colored liquid, all
with a body floating inside. All of the figures wore some type of device which allowed them to breathe and monitored their vitals, and *all* of them looked like Eve in various stages of cellular development.


She'd simply shrugged at Nora. "As you like." She hadn't really expected the other woman to stay put, actually; *she* wouldn't have, not if there was the chance of using it to get them all out, somehow. Not terribly thrilled with the prospect of Evan staying behind, but she tried to shrug it off. Eve pushed the glasses up on her head, wearing them as a headband, then stepped through the door-that-wasn't-there.

It was an odd sensation, a little dizzying. The confusion wasn't as bad as when they'd teleported, but she'd still found herself blinking at the sudden changes around her. It smelled...awful. Her eyes took a moment longer to catch up, lingering on one of the steel tables before Nora's actions caught her attention. Eve looked up then, and simply froze for a moment, her eyes widening. Breaking the stillness, she approached the tanks, heart pounding. At the moment, she wasn't sure if she wanted to scream or be sick. "Oh my God..." Falling back a step, she nearly bumped into one piece of equipment or another before retreating further, around where Pirate stood, closer to where they'd come through. "This is just..insane." Disgusting and horrifying were also at the top of the list.