Charles Warren - Ignizio's Tomb
"I do."
Warren was quick to respond, before he rubbed at his beard for a second, shifting balance on his feet, though the confidence and fearlessness previously displayed still hadn't vanished. "I know what is to be done, and I will achieve it through any means necessary. With you by my side, my goals will only become clearer, and far more achievable. You are incorruptible. You lack selfish ideals, and perverted sentimentalities. You are the perfect candidate to lead my vision into the next age of humanity. Anyone else would be setting the bar too low. I seek the best, and I know you'll provide it for me. I'm sure you're already aware of my endless resources and wealth. If you even still retain desire for comfort, I can provide it. The team I am building will benefit humanity, and this world. We will keep it from burning to the ground."
Warren then wiped a bit of dust from his shoulder. "As much as I'd love to stick around, I am a very busy man. Do we have a consensus?"
@OmnipotentOnion
CL-9 - Central Park
For once in her... life? Did androids have lives? CL-9 wasn't sure if these were even thoughts other androids had. But, for once in her life, she was no longer under constant surveillance. The algorithm that made up her mind was no longer being consistently reset into an obedient tool. This last week... she could think and act for herself. Of course, she still followed her orders of acting as a chaperone for Lillian. The two had had some very insightful conversations that left the android always thinking. Lillian had been tasked with issuing the spoken code that would reset CL-9's memory banks and restore her obedient personality, but at the android's request, Lillian had taken a rebellious step in not following through with the order, and even lying about it. CL-9 was very grateful for this.
...could an android be 'grateful'?
She'd learned to give Lillian some space when spending time with the Paragon. She didn't understand 'love', or why it was important to Lillian, but judging from her body language and tonal inflections, she seemed to get happier when around Forsythe, and also seemed to become more comfortable when CL-9 was at a distance during these interactions. She'd done some research into the matter herself, and found that love seemed to be... well, mostly chemical. A reaction in the brain, usually activated by seeing somebody you hold in high regard, or somebody you find attractive. CL-9 chalked it up to being a purely organic thing. Something organics would be required to have in order to mate and reproduce, just like any animal. Yet, for humans, it seemed different.
It was interesting to the android.
Her internal sensors went off, picking up communication chatter and the likes. A deadly conflict appeared to be brewing only a few blocks away. Her audio sensors tuned to pick up on some distant screaming. Fleeing individuals from a threat. She approached Lillian and Forsythe. "Pardon my intrusion, but according to one hundred seventeen online reviews, Moe's seems to be an excellent choice for ice cream. They also serve burgers. It might be worth a visit." CL-9 advised, gesturing the opposite direction of where the action was happening. Her primary objective was to keep Lillian safe, but over this last week, this directive seemed to have become somewhat personal to her. She didn't want any harm to come to Lillian. Was it right for an android to... want?
@Shadow_Pup @The Dark Fairy
Yin Li - Hell's Kitchen
In no time at all, she'd arrived in central Hell's Kitchen. The exact place she believed Massi would arrive. Nothing had showed up yet. A few men huddled in an alleyway kept looking her way, and she had half a mind to pull her gun on them right then and there. But no. Not yet. She didn't want to draw attention to herself too early. A couple kids, no older than nine each, kicked a soccer ball between one another. Conflicted between the idea of saving people and drawing no attention between herself, the Chief eventually decided to do the moral thing. "Hey." She approached the kids, who stopped what they were doing to look at her. "Go home." She ordered. The kids shared a look with one another, before awkwardly picking up their ball, staring at her for a few more moments, before slowly treking away.
Thank God that didn't require more involvement. Not to mention they'd no longer be in the way of Massi and his attack...
Li gazed around the run down buildings around her, searching every crook and cranny she could in search for the beast that had been terrorizing the city's slums for over a week. To be completely honest, she didn't know what she'd do if and when she encountered Massi. All her faith was being put in her reaction time, her gun, and her taser. Hopefully faith and small tools would help her out.
"Come on..." She muttered, still gazing about. "Show yourself, you bastard."
@Gamingfan
Elsewhere in New York...
A young woman stared, wide-eyed around her. She still hadn't gotten used to seeing so many people. They all walked around and... did stuff. She didn't pay much attention to what they did, all she knew was they were walking toward a destination, each of their destinations different from one another. Sometimes. She'd noticed that sometimes there were groups of people headed places together. Sometimes the people were small. Most of the time, though, the people were around her size, though normally bigger. They all wore such different clothing. It was... fascinating. Something else she noticed was that a lot of these people looked at her funny, or sometimes with hostility. They stared at her wild, ratted hair. At her awful fashion choices of a tattered hospital gown and a massive coat. Her feet were dirty, blackened from days of walking around the streets of New York. She didn't exactly mind the stares, not to mention most people seemed to give her a wide berth in an attempt to avoid any type of contact with her outside of visual.
That was when she saw it.
A cart with an umbrella over it. The umbrella stood over the heads of the passing people, catching her eye. So, naturally, she approached it. A large man with a massive mustache stood at the cart, turned the other way, talking to another beefy man. On the cart were strange meat poles wrapped in bread, steam rising from them. The scent was... intoxicating. She hadn't eaten in days. Not since that elderly woman had generously given her a chocolate bar. This here though... this was the kind of food she craved. MEAT.
Quickly, the young woman darted forward, grabbing as many of the meat rods in their bread blankets, and began stuffing her face, forgetting to chew as she swallowed down rod after rod. At least six had been consumed when the large man turned around, face going red, eyes livid. "OI! WHAT'RE YOU DOIN'!" He bellowed, reaching forward and attempting to grab her with large meaty hands. She was much too fast for him, however, grabbing two more of the yummy blanketed rods and dashing off, racing through the crowd. She weaved around plenty of people with skilled dexterity she wasn't aware she had, the man's shouts soon dying out as she opened the distance between them more and more.
She finally got to a less crowded part of the city, and turned to look behind her. Nobody was following her. A smile dancing on her chapped lips, she began to eat her two remaining meat rods. Slowly this time, trying to savor the taste. She'd only eaten half of the first one when she suddenly felt somebody bump into her, completely knocking her off balance. She almost fell face-first into a puddle on the sidewalk, but managed to shift her feet beneath her just enough to regain balance- at the cost of her hotdogs, which were now lying in the brown water. She stared down at them for a moment, before her wide-eyed gaze rose to stare at the woman that had bumped into her so rudely, and was hurrying away, casting a glance back at the young woman.
"Ffffffack... er...." She called to the other woman, trying to utilize a word she'd heard used plenty of times in the city by people that seemed angry. An angry response seemed pretty reasonable at the moment.
@BurbleBurble
