There is nothing for... well, you can't really tell how long. It's hard to tell time when you're just a thought. But suddenly you are-
The phone is ringing, an annoying metallic sound. A click and it stops.
"Da?""Tovarishch Direktor? Telefonnyy zvonok ot Sekretarya. Vysokiy prioritet.""Govno...
Khorosho. Prodolzhit."Another click, this time distorted by the small speaker.
Environmental assessment complete."Dobryy vecher Secretary to the Premier. To what do I owe the ple-"
"Spare me your flattery. I've been told there is still no progress with the subject. Do you realize how pressing the circumstances are?""Yes Secretary, but you must understand, with the recent transfers and the... accident, we've been severely understaffed and underequipped. I'm going to have to transfer personnel from other-"
"Then do so!""You don't understand, what the consequences could be. The research we're doing-"
"-is irrelevant! It is you who does not understand! You might have been important during the war, some may have even called you a hero, but you'd be surprised how easily heroes can disappear these days if they aren't useful to the Party. Have I made myself clear?""...Yes sir. I will proceed as you requested."
"You'd better, if you know what's best for you. Fate has already reported increased probability of Counterrevolutionary activity this week. Increase your guard. We can't have those pridurki impede our progress. We have far more important things to worry about than a few bombs.""But we have no-"
There is a click, followed by a tone
"-men."
You hang up as well and get up, sighing "mudak" as you do so.
You look at your wristwatch. It's 01:15.
Lenglon: Irene|GreatWyrmGold: AngelYou look at your wristwatch. It's 01:15
The motion feels strange. You remember thinking about looking at the watch, you remember moving your head, you remember your nervousness at the time and yet it feels... disconnected. Alien.
Establishing host control. Standby...Oh right. The games. The entities. You had almost forgotten. Or was it that you just couldn't think?
The voice in your heads makes you realize why the motion felt alien. This isn't you. You are only a passenger, both in mind and body.
With each moment that passes however, you feel more in control, more like you, even as at the same time your host's thoughts and emotions become fuzzier and more distant to you.
You are currently standing side by side, dressed in matching brown outfits, pushing a cleaning cart. You look different, but you can somehow tell who the other is. Angel seems to be about 16 years years old but kind of frail looking.
You are passing through a bland white hallway, the white broken by the occasional wooden door, with only a number to differentiate it from the previous one.
You finally reach your destination, an intersection with a stairway leading up on the left and a toilet on the right.
You enter the toilet and from there a janitor's closet.
You each retrieve a knife and a mini-earpiece from a hiding place inside a vent.
You conceal the knife under your shirt and proceed to put the earpiece in your ear.
"Synchronization complete." The voice comes from a device on your other wrist, like a silvery wristwatch with a bluish glass screen. You're fairly certain that wasn't there before.
Your host's thoughts and desires are nothing but a barely audible whisper now. You think you could use them, if you focused hard enough.
You can move freely, you hosts helping you guide the movement of your new bodies, making it seem seamless.
Irene is in her human form. Angel is once again in that state where her powers are like blank text boxes, waiting to be activated.
You hear a voice coming from the earpiece.
Toaster: John Lancaster|Xantalos: ALAN RICKTERSVINKSONTERNIKBIKYou look at your wristwatch. It's 01:15
You're leaning on the right side of a car, parked in the left side of the road, staring at the concrete and chain link fence surrounding a large two story building on your 10 o'clock. Specifically, you're paying attention at the red gate guard post responsible for operating a striped red and white boom barrier there and the two shadows you can see inside it. Behind the chain link fence, you can see the parking lot (mostly empty) the entrance to the building (a ramp leading to a wide set of doors made of glass) and the cargo area (a place where trucks are supposed to load and unload cargo directly into the building). At the top of the building, two chimneys are belching smoke, one white, one dark.
The light wind lifts some of the fresh snow off the ground and rooftops and causes it to swirl around you.
Establishing host control. Standby...You are wearing thick black coats to protect you from the cold weather and make you harder to spot in the darkness, as well as black balaclavas (rolled at the top of your head to look like caps at the moment) and gloves.
You are surrounded by tall buildings made of glass and metal that contrast with the short, wide and mostly made of concrete building you are watching.
You notice the lights of a car at the other side of the building, blinking twice before fading. Finally, they're here.
You go to the trunk of the car and check your equipment. Two silenced pistols, an AK-47 and the Device, a dark brick of heavy metal that takes up most of the trunk, along with a trolley for carrying it.
You retrieve your mini-earpieces and silenced pistols and put them in your ears and under your coats respectively.
"Synchronization complete." The voice comes from a device on your other wrist, like a silvery wristwatch with a bluish glass screen. You're fairly certain that wasn't there before.
Your host's thoughts and desires are nothing but a barely audible whisper now. You think you could use them, if you focused hard enough.
You can move freely, you hosts helping you guide the movement of your new bodies, making it seem seamless.
You hear a voice coming from your earpiece.
Harry Baldman: Ike Watkins|scapheap: EriaYou look at your wristwatch. It's 01:15.
Damn it, you're late. After a few more seconds of driving, you park near the corner of a tall glass building, flash your lights twice, and eye your target. The roof of the squat concrete building. You know that behind that cloud of white smoke there should be the blinking lights of the comm station.
Establishing host control. Standby...You are wearing thick black coats to protect you from the cold weather and make you harder to spot in the darkness, as well as black balaclavas (rolled at the top of your head to look like caps at the moment) and gloves.
Despite Ike's more Russian appearance, his ears are as big as ever. Eria's scaly blue skin is no better, although the dim light and the dark clothes help conceal her non-human features a bit.
You get out of the car and check your equipment. Two silenced pistols. A silenced sniper rifle. A bolt cutter. A device that looks like a mix of fire extinguisher and spearfishing gun, loaded with a grappling hook, in turn attached to enough rope to fill the rest of the trunk. And a couple of dark bags to hold it all.
You retrieve your mini-earpieces and silenced pistols and put them in your ears and under your coats respectively.
"Synchronization complete." The voice comes from a device on your other wrist, like a silvery wristwatch with a bluish glass screen. You're fairly certain that wasn't there before.
Your host's thoughts and desires are nothing but a barely audible whisper now. You think you could use them, if you focused hard enough.
You can move freely, you hosts helping you guide the movement of your new bodies, making it seem seamless.
You hear a voice coming from the earpiece.
DarkArtemisFowl: Zechariah Dimikaelo|Fniff: Jordan SvensonYou look at your wristwatch. It's 01:15
It's dim green light is the only thing that allows you to see in this cramped space. Outside, you can hear muffled voices and feel the vibrations of movement.
"So, where are we taking this thing anyway?"
"Oh, just down the hall to meeting room B.""Yeah, but isn't kinda strange to have a delivery this late at night?"
Establishing host control. Standby..."Quit complaining like an old man. The loading area isn't that far from here.""If you haven't noticed comrade, I AM an old man. This is my last day on the job, remember?"
"I know, I know.""I would have proffered to have it pass calmly in my office for once, looking at a picture of my family. You know, like a retirement present."
You hear and feel a door being pushed open by your container.
"Well then, maybe you're in for a small surprise."You can hear men singing
Zhelayu schast'ya tselyy vorokh,
Ulybok, radosti buket,
Druzey nadezhnykh i veselykh,
Schastlivoy zhizni, dolgikh let."Oh, you bastards! You shouldn't have."
"And that's not all. Come on! Open your present."You can hear the sound of a wooden box being opened around you.
"Oh! You didn't!"
"We did! And she's all for you!"You pull on the fishing line you're holding and hear a faint clicking sound.
"What the-" is the only thing you hear before the room around you is filled with coughing and than nothing.
You wait a few more seconds to make sure the gas has dissipated and get out of the cake, silenced pistols in hand, ready to shoot anybody that threatens you. You only see bodies on the floor, their festivities abruptly interrupted. Your target is not among them.
You conceal your gun under your matching brown outfits and check your earpieces to make sure they're on. Zach seems to be a bit unlucky with his choice of team, since he has to hide his wings under his shirt and his staff in one of the dark bags they're carrying, if he wants to have any hope of posing as a janitor.
"Synchronization complete." The voice comes from a device on your other wrist, like a silvery wristwatch with a bluish glass screen. You're fairly certain that wasn't there before.
Your host's thoughts and desires are nothing but a barely audible whisper now. You think you could use them, if you focused hard enough.
You can move freely, you hosts helping you guide the movement of your new bodies, making it seem seamless.
You hear a voice coming from the earpiece.
EveryoneYou hear a voice coming from the earpiece.
"Okay, we are all ready. You know what you have to do. You know what's at stake here. The Cause requires that we al blargareh."
After a second of incoherent babbling his voice changes to the voice of an entity.
"Man, that guy was boring. I got permission from the others, so I'll be taking control him from here on out. Okay, let's see if he has anything interesting in his head...
Are you all okay by the way? No memory or personality loss during the transfer? You remember what you have to do?
If you don't, just ask the Interface (that's the silverblue thing on your wrists). Or me, you can ask me too, once I figure out this guy's head.
You can also use it to talk to each other. Just think about it and it will activate, transmitting your thoughts. So much better than mere radios, eh? And the best thing is, nobody else can see it but you.
Unfortunately, I'll be limited to talking to you through normal radio, so try to not loose your earpieces."
((Sorry if I butchered Russian. Using what little I learned in school. Which was mostly curse words.
Also, got a bit carried away with the descriptions. Again.))