Ducky
Forum Replies Created
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“It was given to me by someone,” Heckie coughed through Dakota’s strangling grip. “He’d seen me talking to transhumans… Thought I could help calm them down. Christ, you guys are all insane…”
Heckie grabbed Dakota’s wrists and tried to free himself, with limited success.
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“Doc!” Heckie called to Fallen. “Can you tell me what’s going on? What are they fighting over? And why? And more importantly, how do we calm them down?”
(OOC: I’m writing from a really weird perspective here o_o)
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Heckie stepped back from the fighting. “Fluff!” He said, turning to Dakota. “Help me, please! We have to stop these two before this gets worse! I need you to tell me what they’re fighting over!”
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“You did what?”
“I sent him in.”
“He’s a kid! Barely an adult!”
“He chose to help. He’s the closest person we have to them.”
“You should have sent a trained negotiator!”
“Our trained negotiators would have just become more corpses!”
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Yo if I missed anything important, let me know. I think I covered it all but I make mistakes.
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Heck stepped between Blaze and Kaz. This was probably the stupidest decision he could make, but he was hung over and willing to bet on their humanity.
“Okay, both of you, shut up and listen, because this is really not how I wanted to be spending my morning. Snacks! You made sense! You were polite! Rational, almost! You even did the nickname thing! How high are you!?”
He turned to Blaze.
“I have no idea who you are. I don’t know what you want. As far as I can tell, you’re another nutcase transhuman, but listen up,” he said.
“Both of you, look at what you’re doing. Human lives are being wasted because you want to kill each other. I don’t know who the ‘hero’ or the ‘villain’ is, but you all have blood on your hands here. What stupid magical arms race is so important that you’ll kill anyone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for it?”
Heck was starting to feel like the past few days were just a case of ‘wrong place, wrong time.’
(OOC: Gotta go sleep guys, so I just wanted to get that post in before I head off to bed)
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(Okay everything’s edited. My bad!
BTW: To clarify, I realize that yes, Heckie is a mere mortal trying to shout down a group of raging transhumans, but he just doesn’t care and right now the only way out for him is forward, so he’ll give it a shot regardless.
(Y’know, despite how idiotically dangerous it is.))
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Heckie threw the revolver at Dakota. “My name is Heckie Blair. I’m going to college to study law. I’m going to be a defense attorney. People call me Heck. Transhumans insist I’m supposed to join them. Someone asked me to talk to you. I’m confused, alarmed, and a little bit angry.”
He turned to Kaz. “And feeling a bit betrayed.”
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“Fluff, are you insane? Do you want them to tear this place up?” Heck asked. “What is this fight, even?”
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“Argh, you — That was my best coat! You just burned a hole in my best coat! And Fluff,” he said to Dakota, “Don’t even get me started on how the hell you thought creeping around in the sky over a military base was a good idea.”
He got up and pointed the revolver at Blaze. “I don’t know if you also call yourself a hero or what, but you just threw a fireball at me, so frankly I could care less. Snacks,” he said to Kaz, “What the hell are you doing? You were the only one of these jokers who was actually making sense, but here you are making a mess of a base! Killing civilians! What are you assholes even fighting over!?”
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Heckie ran out to the edge of the sinkhole. Two human figures fought nearby. One of them he recognized as Kaz. The other wasn’t familiar.
“Hey, Snacks! Other guy! What the hell are you doing?” He shouted. Either they were too busy fighting to pay attention or they didn’t hear him.
“Hey…” He started, before another idea occurred to him.
He fired the revolver Yannic had given to him into the air.
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(ARGH, why do you all post so fast?)
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(I just mean he has literally no way of knowing… Actually you know what? I just thought of something.)
Heckie’s phone rang.
“Blair, it’s Yannic,” the voice on the other end said.
“Gah! How do you even have my number?”
“The FDTA is currently the most well-funded branch of the Florida government. You surprised? Car’s coming back around as we speak. There’s a huge transhuman fight going on. I’ll tell you more in the car.” He hung up like that.
“Hey guys,” Heck said, “Professor of mine wants some papers. I’ve got to go.”
He made quick tracks for the door and got into the waiting car, with its ominous tinted windows.
“What’s the story, Yannic?” Heck asked.
“Officers in the Lakeland Elevated Response Facility-” Yannic started.
“Wait wait wait, the what? Lakeland doesn’t have any military bases.”
“We built it when things started blowing up,” Yannic explained. “It’s become a response center for dealing with transhumans, but we haven’t been able to come up with any kind of equipment that could actually give us an edge.”
“So it’s a war to you guys?”
“It’s an invasion. Listen, maybe an hour they started to report system failures, roughly coinciding with the helicopter failures. Maybe ten minutes ago, a massive sinkhole opened, swallowing a huge portion of the base.”
“So transhumans?”
“Transhumans. No idea how many or what they’re doing, but if you know any of them, you might be able to talk them down before anyone else gets hurt.”
“Look, I don’t think I’m really equipped to…”
Yannic handed Heckie a revolver pistol, fully loaded. “Blair, we can’t talk to them. We’ve tried. You may be able to.”
The driver dropped the two outside of the base, at a safe distance, then drove away as fast as possible.
“Alright, Blair, I have to stay behind. This is up to you.”
I don’t got this.
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Okay, don’t freak out. They don’t know a thing.
“I was thinking, isn’t anyone in charge around here?” Heck asked, “Or do we just dick around until something explodes in our faces?”
(I don’t really have any good plot devices to bring Heckie into the action)
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“Mr. Blair. Can I have a word with you for a moment?” The question was asked by a middle-aged man with thinning, gray hair and stubble that could never be truly shaved. He wore a suit – the sort associated with business meetings and that variety of interaction – and Heckie assumed he was a professor.
“Uh, sure. What’s up?” Heck asked.
“Away from your friend, if you don’t mind,” he said. “Why don’t we go for a drive?”
“Heck?” Courtney asked.
“Uh… Okay?” Heckie answered.
A minute of driving passed before the man said another word.
“My name’s Cass Yannic, administrator of the Florida Department of Transhuman Affairs.”
“Oh for Christ’s sake.”
“Trust me, Blair, I know how you feel. You’ve moved in with some transhumans, I understand?”
Blair screwed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the headache he already had. “Yeah. Look, they were offering a free room and-”
“I want your help. Lakeland needs your help.”
“I’m not some kind of hero,” Heckie said. “I just want to get through this year.”
“I never accused you of heroics, Mr. Blair. I just need you to try to find out why your housemates are raising Cain around here.”
Heck scratched his head. “Since when did Florida have a Department of Transhuman Affairs?”
“Since it became obvious that someone had to act or the world would live at their mercy. A few well-placed words and better intel would have prevented whatever caused the deaths of 28 army personnel who won’t be calling home tonight,” Yannic answered.
“And you think I can get them to stop running amok?”
“It’s not your job, but you can get closer than we can. Find out who they are, what they are, and what motivates them act as violently as they do. If you can talk them out of further violence, that would also be good, but right now, information is your number one priority.”
Heck shook his head, “If they found out I was creeping on them, they’d probably kill me. Besides, I don’t have time to be a spy. Do you have any idea how time-consuming college is?”
“Yes, I do. I have a PhD, you know. I’m technically Doctor Yannic. Look, just go with them to places sometimes. Do things with them. Find out what they want. We’ll cover whatever expense we can.”
“I don’t like this,” Heckie said.
“I didn’t like any of this,” Yannic answered.
“Can you drop me at their place? Seems like you know where it is already.”
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Heckie walked into the headquarters, wearing an exaggerated poker face. These people didn’t have to know a thing.
He’d just play it cool.
Nobody would suspect a-
“OhgodI’msorryI’mjustheretowritemypaper!” He burst out as he stepped into the living room and saw Vlora.
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“…And can any of you tell me how this piece of evidence is inadmissible?” Professor Lawrence asked.
“While it was obtained in hot pursuit,” Courtney answered, “The officer very clearly didn’t need to go through the kitchen to chase the suspect. The suspect went directly through the hallway, and had the officer directly chased the suspect, he would never have opened the door into the basement and seen the plants.”
“Okay,” Lawrence said, “And…”
A loud crash from outside interrupted his next question.
“Err…” he said. “It’s probably just…”
“All students on-campus are requested to please exit the premises in a calm and orderly fashion,” a nervous voice said through loudspeaker over the rising sirens.
Heckie made his calm exit, rubbing his forehead. If this was more transhuman bullshit, he was going to flip.
On the grass outside of the Everest Lakeland buildings, a pillar of smoke rose from the remains of one of the many helicopters Heck had seen the previous day.
“Christ,” Courtney said as the two passed the wreckage, approaching the parking lot. “That’s messed up.”
The smell of burning flesh approached them, and Heck could see a body which had been thrown from the vehicle on impact, charred beyond recognition.
“Lakeland is going to hell,” Heckie answered morosely. “Next year, I think I’m going to transfer out of town – out of state if I can.”
“Good thinking, Heck,” she answered. “Don’t suppose there’s room for Brick and me?”
“I’ll work something out, I’m sure,” he joked. “Couldn’t leave you here to die, Gears.”
Two police cars and an ambulance arrived as the pair reached the parking lot.
“Need a ride anywhere?” She asked him.
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“Yeah, I’m watching the news right now, on my tablet.”
“Is Blair safe?”
“It missed the buildings, but only by a few yards.”
“You’d better go talk to him. Whatever dropped those birds was no ordinary human.”
“Wilson’s driving me there as we speak. I’ll meet him any second.”
(OOC: Please dear god let me have my knowledge of evidence law at least a little bit correct)