chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

[felidity]

I don't have a family. I was-- [ she stops herself from babbling so she can correct herself. ] I have a family, but I found that family here. I was made in a lab so I don't have that kind of family.

[pilgrimages]

[ zara does not have the social acumen to resist looking kali over like an alien. or rather, she knows it's inappropriate, but she doesn't recognize that her status means nothing here and ergo she should care that it's inappropriate.

local twenty-year-old almost faces consequences, in other words. ]

How exactly is one ... created ... in a lab? Are you some kind of machine?

[felidity]

[ if malina were here she would be offended on kali's behalf, but kali herself doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. ]

No, I'm mostly human. The embryo that became me was genetically modified so I would be physically superior to humankind in order to better protect it. I'm part cat and part shark and part other genetic tidbits to make the best soldier they could imagine.

[pilgrimages]

[ embryo ?? ? ya ok. ]

So you're some kind of human chimera.

[felidity]

Exactly. I'm called a moreau. After the H.G. Wells novel, not the 19th century French symbolist painter.

[ obv ]

[pilgrimages]

Your tale, at least, appears to have a happier ending.

[ she may not have brushed up on science, but she's caught up on this world's culture. she knows what's important ok. ]

[felidity]

Oh I've never read it.

[pilgrimages]

But you come from this world, don't you?

[felidity]

Yes, I was born in the US.

[pilgrimages]

Does the U.S. not provide a well-rounded education of their culture?

[felidity]

According to television, no. I was-- Malina says I was sheltered. We were educated in tactics and military history and armament and mission appropriate niche knowledge, but they didn't have much of an emphasis on pop culture and the classics.

[pilgrimages]

That seems a terrible way to raise a soldier. They'll have no loyalty, no ideals to fight for.

[felidity]

We were loyal to them, we had no concept of... [ her face scrunches, looking for the right words. topher had to have used them before. ] Independent thought.

Learning to be normal's taken a long time. I still don't understand most people's references.

[pilgrimages]

[ that concept puts zara on edge, though for reasons she won't share. ]

You seem to be thinking independently for yourself now.

[felidity]

Being outside helps. [ outside of that place but also outside, although it's too chilly for her tastes now. ]

[pilgrimages]

Does it?

[felidity]

It does, I get choices here. I can say no if I don't agree with the orders. I learned that I can be sexually attracted to a woman and a man, even at the same time. That was a very exciting and confusing time for me.

[pilgrimages]

How did you escape? If their conditioning was so complete, surely you wouldn't have wanted to.

[felidity]

I was out on a mission when the facility burned to the ground and I tried to be on my own but I was very terrible at being a person when I first started. They started hunting us down because we were very expensive and I stumbled upon the Knights protecting one of my siblings and decided they would be an acceptably safe place to hide.

[ she shrugs a little awkwardly. ] And then I liked it. Wynn was very kind to me and made sure I knew I could change my mind at any time, even after I was knighted. And I made friends, which was very exciting.

[pilgrimages]

And your sibling? Are they here, as well?

[felidity]

No. Some of them are dead, probably. But we were made to be clever so some of them must be alive somewhere.

[pilgrimages]

How many like you are there?

[felidity]

They never told us. Probably enough in the wings so that even though they claimed the supply was low to drive up demand they had enough to go around.