Post by Memvis Tolstoy on Feb 6, 2012 18:07:17 GMT -5
Artemis stood before the heavily reinforced door to the captain's quarters with a mask of solid irritation clouding her normally serene features. It was something of a victory to the youthful cyborg that she'd managed to maintain this sense of annoyance for as long as she had, considering that her emotions tended to appear and linger for mere moments before vanishing, much like a light-bulb wearing out, and just as abrupt.
Behind her, a crowd of sailors were gathering and looking at her with various levels of incomprehension. These expressions had appeared when she'd announced to the people at large that she would be opening the door. Some men had even gone as far as to laugh themselves silly at the notion of this little stick of a girl breaking down a door roughly as thick and taller than she was, but those fellows that she'd roughed up before knew the truth of things.
The jeers still rung out and Artemis burned them like fuel, fanning the flame of her irritation into something hot, bubbling near anger, but not quite making it there. The girl's bright blue eyes began to glow, and suddenly, something began to occur. It was subtle at first, the air around Artemis shaking as if under a considerable heat. Then, within moments, power began to erupt from the girl's body, and around her the air distorted from the force of it. Holding out one hand, as if grasping an orb, the power began to shift, all of it transferring to that single, delicate looking appendage. Closing her hand into a fist, the energy changed shape and something that looked like a bubble of distortion and energy formed around her pale hand.
There was no more laughing from the sailors, and some of the men actually stepped back in shock and maybe a little bit of fear. Drawing back the fist, her eyes narrowed as she chose her mark. With a blow ferocious enough to make a predatory beast cower, she struck the door.
To say that the door broke would not do justice to the sheer destruction that the attack caused. When the bubble made contact with the hard wood, it literally contorted and warped around it like viscous liquid. Then, the force of the attack came, literally blasting the door into fragments, mostly splinters.
The men around her all observed the scene with dumbfounded stupefaction, as Artemis strolled into the room. Her feet crunched and snapped on the debris of what once was a door, and in the corner, she could see a man huddled in the corner, his arms clutching his legs closer to him. With little regard for the man's frazzled state, she grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall with a resounding thud. The man screamed out in pain, but she made sure not to harm him too much so that he could still speak.
"Why?! Why did you endanger these people?!" Her eyes bore into the captain, like daggers. Energy began to gather around one of her hands once again, and the man's eyes swiveled to the wreckage of the door, to the cyborg's energy filled grasp, and then to Artemis' face. They were wide with horror.
"OH PLEASE!! Don't hurt me! I had no choice!! They made me do it!" Artemis pulled back her fist as if preparing to punch.
"Who made you do it?!"
"I don't know! They sent soldiers to my home in the middle of the night some weeks back and demanded that I bring them 40 passengers before a specific date. Today was the deadline, but the weather wasn't clearing! I had not choice but to..."
"You would risk the lives of over forty passengers in order to save your own skin?" There was a silence.
"They threatened to kill my wife and kids..." Mumbled the man. another silence stretched before the man spoke up again. "And now thanks to you, they will..." Artemis scowled at the man, and let him drop to the hard wood floor. As he hit the ground, a piece of paper slipped out of his jacket pocket. The paper was fine and expensive, government grade if Artemis was any judge of such things. Raising an eyebrow, she leaned down and picked up the small sheet, examining it with a critical eye. It was white, with a crimson border. Upon it were written specific coordinates and a request for 40 adult slaves. Then there was a date. On the other side of the paper, there was an insignia: A black S surrounded by a ring which in itself was surrounded by playing card suits, Spade, Club, Diamond and Heart.
Artemis looked to the man. "I will help you. I am rather sure that you will be arrested for this, but I can assure you that your family will be safe." Turning, she made her way out of the room. Behind her, the man was speechless, but Artemis thought he might have been weeping. The sailors began to question her excessively when she emerged from the ruined cabin. Artemis waved them away and looked for Arata. Taffy had vanished, or so the sailors told her, which was fine she supposed. The ship was in working order again and that was all that mattered.
Finding the navigator hard at work plotting a course back to their original destination, Artemis explained what had happened.
"...so, what do you think? You willing to help the guy?"
Behind her, a crowd of sailors were gathering and looking at her with various levels of incomprehension. These expressions had appeared when she'd announced to the people at large that she would be opening the door. Some men had even gone as far as to laugh themselves silly at the notion of this little stick of a girl breaking down a door roughly as thick and taller than she was, but those fellows that she'd roughed up before knew the truth of things.
The jeers still rung out and Artemis burned them like fuel, fanning the flame of her irritation into something hot, bubbling near anger, but not quite making it there. The girl's bright blue eyes began to glow, and suddenly, something began to occur. It was subtle at first, the air around Artemis shaking as if under a considerable heat. Then, within moments, power began to erupt from the girl's body, and around her the air distorted from the force of it. Holding out one hand, as if grasping an orb, the power began to shift, all of it transferring to that single, delicate looking appendage. Closing her hand into a fist, the energy changed shape and something that looked like a bubble of distortion and energy formed around her pale hand.
There was no more laughing from the sailors, and some of the men actually stepped back in shock and maybe a little bit of fear. Drawing back the fist, her eyes narrowed as she chose her mark. With a blow ferocious enough to make a predatory beast cower, she struck the door.
To say that the door broke would not do justice to the sheer destruction that the attack caused. When the bubble made contact with the hard wood, it literally contorted and warped around it like viscous liquid. Then, the force of the attack came, literally blasting the door into fragments, mostly splinters.
The men around her all observed the scene with dumbfounded stupefaction, as Artemis strolled into the room. Her feet crunched and snapped on the debris of what once was a door, and in the corner, she could see a man huddled in the corner, his arms clutching his legs closer to him. With little regard for the man's frazzled state, she grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall with a resounding thud. The man screamed out in pain, but she made sure not to harm him too much so that he could still speak.
"Why?! Why did you endanger these people?!" Her eyes bore into the captain, like daggers. Energy began to gather around one of her hands once again, and the man's eyes swiveled to the wreckage of the door, to the cyborg's energy filled grasp, and then to Artemis' face. They were wide with horror.
"OH PLEASE!! Don't hurt me! I had no choice!! They made me do it!" Artemis pulled back her fist as if preparing to punch.
"Who made you do it?!"
"I don't know! They sent soldiers to my home in the middle of the night some weeks back and demanded that I bring them 40 passengers before a specific date. Today was the deadline, but the weather wasn't clearing! I had not choice but to..."
"You would risk the lives of over forty passengers in order to save your own skin?" There was a silence.
"They threatened to kill my wife and kids..." Mumbled the man. another silence stretched before the man spoke up again. "And now thanks to you, they will..." Artemis scowled at the man, and let him drop to the hard wood floor. As he hit the ground, a piece of paper slipped out of his jacket pocket. The paper was fine and expensive, government grade if Artemis was any judge of such things. Raising an eyebrow, she leaned down and picked up the small sheet, examining it with a critical eye. It was white, with a crimson border. Upon it were written specific coordinates and a request for 40 adult slaves. Then there was a date. On the other side of the paper, there was an insignia: A black S surrounded by a ring which in itself was surrounded by playing card suits, Spade, Club, Diamond and Heart.
Artemis looked to the man. "I will help you. I am rather sure that you will be arrested for this, but I can assure you that your family will be safe." Turning, she made her way out of the room. Behind her, the man was speechless, but Artemis thought he might have been weeping. The sailors began to question her excessively when she emerged from the ruined cabin. Artemis waved them away and looked for Arata. Taffy had vanished, or so the sailors told her, which was fine she supposed. The ship was in working order again and that was all that mattered.
Finding the navigator hard at work plotting a course back to their original destination, Artemis explained what had happened.
"...so, what do you think? You willing to help the guy?"