Caught in a Lie

[Jazz]

COM LOG//NEURAL NET ENTRY 19
Portable Edition/ Load name Ian

PASSWORD:***********

PASSWORD Correct

I have parked this onto one of the landing garages near a small
mall. Around the corner is the college. If I move up the ship and....

<One of the anima move up to indicate something on a small screen.
Ian panics at the unknown touch and spun around with his gun exposed. Seeing it was only
the anima, he lowered his gun and read the message. Touching something on the screen, he sits down on his chair and foodles around with the radio, the messes with a small nob, and turns it on.

-he people like you are our best supporters for our campaign and we need votes from-
<he changes the channel>
new bird that has now gone extinct has been discovered that a small colony of them still live in the ne-
<the messes with the nob>
local news today, we interrupt this channel to bring you news of a murder down near the campus today. Details are sketchy as the victim was found-
<he changes the channel, and finds a rock station playing some music. He turns it a couple of more times, then turns it off. He sighs and stands up>

Alright. A second time I guess. I'm certain that they would have
placed gas masks as part of safety protocol, or maybe they thought
it won't happen again. I seriously doubt that.

<A troubled look enters the teenager, and his hands close on his face in thought. He sits there for a minute or so, then gets up and picks up the device.>

<the device has been turned off>
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<the device has been turned on>
<The camera shows a very,very long drop onto the busy metropolis below. A gust of wind blows the camera from his little strap on belt and it moves, pointing at a large air cooler on top of a roof of a building. The ground is a light grey, and the air glows with a light color from the setting sun.>
<the teenager wobbles a little bit, being pushed around in the wind, and starts winding down the ramp and onto the roof>

<He finds the air conditioning unit, and walks behind it, still lugging around the canister. He finds the entryway down a chute in the air conditioning unit and climbs inside.>

<Ian walks down into the chute holding the football sized container. A few
minutes pass and he eventually gets to a conjunction of air conditioners. There he
jams his thumb on the release canister in front of the opening. A moment of silence,
then gas hissed out of the chamber and flew down the opening at high speed.
None of the gas came towards Ian because the air was pushing it down
too fast. Ian starts running>
<Ian bolts into the hall way and down a hallway. He stops and hits the button for the elevator and pulls out a stopwatch. He sets it to about 3:30 minutes and it starts counting down.>
<The lanky teenager walks into the service elevator and hits floor number
24. The elevator clangs shut and travels downward. After a few agonizing
seconds, the elevator opens with a ding. The anima enter the hallway first,
with him following after. He slowly makes his way over to a small brown door.
He is about to knock, when he hears a sound near the end of the hallway. A
sharp sniffing sound, followed by a few muttered words from a low voice.. A dark
figure at the end of the hallway stood up suddenly and started towards Ian's position.
Still half-concealed in the dark,the teenager makes a quiet lunge for the shadows. He sits
still with his heart pounding. The person stepped out of the darkness and
Ian stared quietly.

The person started forward then stopped and blinked in the glare that the lamp on top of the door
shone down on him, granting a complete view. One of the strangest people he had ever seen stood out in the light, a person who looked like a cross breed of a wolf and a human, walked up the hall, not even stopping to pause when he walked by Ian's still corner in the room.

He walked up to the door, and a small beep asking for authorization comes up.
He stares at the panel, then jams his fist onto the scanner, breaking the screen and
opening the door. He walks in and a shout drifts out of the hall way. What is
the meaning of this? I....you!

A loud bang makes Ian twitch and he notices that all when quiet in the room. Anticipation increasing, he turns and looks down the hall way. The guy came alone. He turned his head again and primed his canister shot. He walked towards the doorway and inside, crouching lowly to avoid sight.

There, standing quite plainly in sight, was the elderly professor, the wolf-like person,
and something that made his eyes bug out. A third person stood out quite plainly. Her
appearance made several things immediately stand out. First, the professor had not only
made another experiment, but he managed to duplicate the results twice. A young women
stood out crouched between both the doctor and the assailant, sporting a large fox like tail,
with fur covering her body in much the same manner that the other had. A light growl escaped
her lips, as the stranger approached. He got quite close, and attempted to push her
out of the way. She stood still, and a flicker of annoyance crossed his face. Still attempting
to brush past her, he tried to make a feint at the doctor, only to be foiled with a stunning backhanded
blow from the girl. He stopped, then looked at her like he was just barely saw her. He leaped at her
and landed a vicious kick at her ribs. She went flying, knocking over a table and a bottle of a conspicuous chemical was sent flying. The doctor immediately lunged for it and barely
caught it in time.

What is going on? Thought the teenager, something must have gone wrong here. He sidled
up to the wall, still crouching as what seemed to be a rather one sided battle seemed to be ongoing over in the center of the camera.

The camera refocuses as it shows the battle, with the young man making some serious damage. A quick jaw punch dropped the girl and she dropped to the floor. Attempting to get back up, the wolf picked up the young woman and threw her across the room, landing on a table filled with more glass and more chemicals.
Meanwhile, the doctor was cowering in the corner, while it was all that the young woman could do to hold him at bay. He whirled around the girl and knocked her legs out behind her. She was on the ground as a kick in the air threw her down on the ground. She hopped to her feet, only to be foiled as a blur of grey blew over her head, throwing her up in the air and against the wall. He followed through with a lunge and narrowly missed. She crouched just as he hit the wall below him. Sputtering as pieces of plaster covered his face, yet another blur slammed into the shoulder of the girl, ripping off hair and causing a evil looking laceration. As she tried to whirl around his side, he aimed a savage blow to her stomach, and she doubled over. Not stopping, he continued to slash over and over, turning the fur a bloody matte.
I have to do something, he's going to kill her, then possibly continue onto the doctor, whom he needed alive. But, how? Oh, idea.

The young scientist frantically scrambled inside his cargos, looking for the elusive canister, as a heart-stopping crack resounded in the air. Not knowing who just broke something vital, he finally found the grey canister and lodged it inside of the compartment. He aimed and..CRACK.

A large glass aperture from the laboratory cracked onto Ian's forehead, sending a cry of pain
out of his mouth. He looked for the source, and found the elderly doctor throwing everything he
could find on the table at the teen, screaming at the top of his lungs NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU
DAMN MURDERERS another improvised bomb exploded in a cloud of glass as the teenager
ran towards the old man. He had no idea what to say when he got there, but that didn't seem to
bother the old man, as he lobbed another glass at the teen, still clutching that reddish brown vial to his
chest like it was the bible in the hands of a priest.

He turned and watched the fight while running, with the young man totally trashing the girl up. What appeared to be a broken arm and foot was clearly slowing the girl down. The other seemed to be perfectly fine. Ian stopped and watched the battle from the safe distance, dodging the occasional glass bomb. She threw a desk up and it hit the wolf in the face. He fell onto the floor, and then initiated a 360 spin blowing the desk back at her and neatly landed on his hands and knees. He lunged at her, aided with the help and leverage the crouch gave him, and slammed his paw into side of her torso, throwing her several feet and breaking the rib. Sporting several injuries, and knowing that the battle would be decided rather soon, he refocused his attention on the professor, earning a slash along his forearm.

He finally reaches the professor and was rewarded with a broken vial on top of his head. Knowing that it was ultimately useless, and that he needed to talk to the doctor before security arrived or his life would be forfeit. Hey, professor, please professor, I'm on your si-WHAM another glass hit him on the head. Eyes watering, he grabbed the hand that was going to hit him with yet another glass vial and began to struggle. 2 years of almost solid inactivity rendered the muscles in the teens arm's rather weak, and fighting the old man was rather hard. They stumbled on the broken glass and fell to the ground, glass bits lodged in their backs. A scream of pain echoed out of the pair as they hit the ground. A different type of scream, one of solid fury, erupted out of the girl as she broke off of the fight and ran towards him. To him, he was trying to help the old man, from her point of view, he was fighting with him. He kicked the back of her knees out from behind her and slammed his knee into the back of her head. She landed face first onto the floor, where more glass had been shattered by all of the commotion in the laboratory. He was standing right on top of her, and she took her chance. She pushed hard on her knee, throwing her foot in the air, cleanly catching the wolf in the chin, lifting him several inches. He flew backwards into a crouch and began forward, only to see her charging the teenager, glass shard in her hand.

Surprise emanating from the teen, he pulled out his gun and aimed it at the charging girl. Another slam from a bottle in the back threw him off balance and the gun mis-fired in a lonely, untouched corner, staining what was clean in a large cloud of green gas. He pushed the old man over and spun around.
Immediately, several things caught his attention.

It wasn't like a TV show, where conversions seemed to be in slo-mo in comparison with the rest of the world, it was just like he was able to register facts incredibly fast.

The doctor was standing up, another glass aimed at his face. At the same time, the girl was almost
right on top of him, claws extended. Her opponent was right behind her, claws aimed for a vulnerable neck as she ignored him, lunging for the new attacker. So you couldn't blame him for gassing them all. Panic made Ian hit the trigger at point-blank. A huge haze of sickly green exploded in between them, causing them all to go down coughing. Slowly, the gas made its way into the nervous systems of all of the people into the room, and their eyes drooped, as it even more slowly rendered a quiet sleep for them all. Only 3 of them moved.

The teenager, who had taken the antitoxin, stood up, only to be amazed by a third thing. The girl and the old man staggered to their feet, drowsy, but obviously still functional. The young woman shook her head, stared at the shocked teen, then was on him immediately, claws slashing everywhere, and blood peppering the ground around him.

Stop, stop Katrina, I want to know the nature of this attack.

The girl stopped, but still kept him on the ground, bleeding from many wounds.
Tell me, why have you attempted to kill me with my previous friend here?
The teen stopped gasping, and ceased resisting the iron hard grip on his hands.
I did not <gasp> know that there would be someone coming for you tonight, I was here
to ask you a couple of questions regarding an earlier work of yours.
That, said the old man, is one of the most pathetic attempts of lying that I have ever seen,
and that includes all of the late-homework excuses I've had amongst my students.
Its true! <cough> I came here to ask about a previous work of yours, well rather <cough> a previous work of mine.

The old man stepped away from him, turning on the lights on the lab. He returned only to see a horrible look grip his face.

....Ian? You are still alive?...
Yes, <gasp> but your daughter is preventing that. He winced in pain as she clamped down harder on his arms.

Katrina, please release him. I need to ask more questions
She releases the grip on him and stands back. The old man extends his hand to the teenager, who can only stare at it, as one of his hands immediately grabbed the flare gun and aimed it at the other limp body in the middle of the place. Before either of them could react, another canister flew into the air, making both of them instantly alert. Before she could react again, the canister blew up a few feet away from the wolf-person, engulfing him again.

Sorry about that, it doesn't last long. His eyes focused on the two. In fact, it really didn't last that long on either of you. A pair of guilty eyes stared away from him. Perhaps, but what made you break in a secured station, attempt an attack against me, and ruin my office? Were you trying to kill me?

The teen began in a raspy voice Of course not, His attack was entirely coincidencial.

The old man began to grow a little angry You know how unlikely that sounds.
Even so, its true. We have much to discuss, but right now the other visitor needs to be taken care of.

The pair of them turned away from his view for a second, the old man advanced on the position of the assailant and gazed into his face, which was limp and unmoving. The girl watched his father move towards the body before she could react. She began to follow, only to hear a scurrying sound behind them. The teen had lunged for the flare gun, and tripped and fell a few feet away from gun, arms stretched out pathetically. Abruptly, she was on him again, standing on his injured hand.
Father may trust you, but I don't she began angrily.
A moan of pain followed by a foot on a badly slashed back followed. He ceased movement.
Over in the center of the room, the old man moved the head of the limp person in front of him. A serene look was in his face, but as he watched, the eyes fluttered open, brown eyes meet blue-grey, and he saw his intended prey right in front of him. The old man fell as his feet dropped out in front of him, and his arm was in an iron grip, breaking it. The scream of pain alerted the daughter of the professor, and she ran towards him, slamming through desks to reach him, but it was too late, the young man slammed a fist into the head of the old man, knocking him out effectively. The girl was on top of him, reentering the fight that had ended a while ago. Or, at least would have. Another canister flew in front of her face, blasting another rush of stale air in front of them. When it cleared, she was hunched down coughing, the old man lay crumpled on the floor. The wolf twitched, and Katrina barely had any time left to dodge another can which blew up in his face.

Silence held the cabin, the girl frozen at the sight of the flare gun aimed at her chest. The kind light from the teens eyes had receded, replaced with hard anger. They stared at each other, when the sound of footsteps was heard from the hallway.
She almost called towards them as they surged past the door to the office, which was now closed, but a rasp in the back of the room told her to be quiet, or they would kill the scientist. Shocked, she turned slowly after making sure he was not going to fire another canister, back to the room. She ran and grabbed the neck of the young teen, squeezing just enough to make him talk.

Please, don't..
What do you mean, 'or they'll kill him'
The security, they aren't yours.
What do you mean? Speak!
She raised him off of his feet. His voice was down to a whisper.
The guards, they have the order to kill your father. I hacked it off of the armed forces comms center
What do you mean? Apprehension was gripping her. Why shouldn't I kill you now?
Please don't. I'm trying to help you.
The squeeze became tighter. Oh ya, like I believe that
Please let me explain. She considered it, staring at the gagging person in front of her, then released her grip, dropping him to the floor in a heap.
Don't think I don't have my eye on you, what do you mean?
The teenager panted a little as he pulled his head up to speak to her in a halting, gasping wheeze.
First, turn off the lights in the room, so they can't see us.
Her face twitched angrily at being ordered around by someone she didn't know, but obeyed. The lights faded out of sight
I was trying to meet your father, to ask a question regarding a study I had done about 2 years ago. Your father has had quite a lot of experience. He stared at her feet. Fur and claws for toes stood out.
...as you have obviously seen. I was preparing to enter here, when I decided to hack onto the army's comms center here on New Berlin. I found out that an order for your fathers death had originated from someone up in the higher rankings of security. Apparently, they were concerned about the nature of his experiments, about them killing the populace. While your father had good intentions, all they were concerned about what would happen when his work became real. It is highly unlikely that just anyone will be able to undergo the same procedure that you two have undergone, but somebody wants you all dead.

She stared at him. Then why are you here?
I came to ask for something. Then I would have left. They want me dead as well, so I have gassed the security facility, but He motioned to the office. they have overcome it. I mean to extract your father and his work from this facility, so they don't die in the hands of those who do not understand them.

She frantically looked at the door. How can I trust you? I have no reason to.
The teen looked her in the eyes,dark into light green You will have to give it a shot. I have a ship ready to leave if you are interested.
She stripped him of the flare gun, then ran over to her father. She hoisted him onto her shoulder, and fired once at the other person. The gun clicked empty. Panicking, because he was starting to move.
She ran over to him You can save my father. It was a statement, not a question.
...Yes,..... under one condition.
What is that?
Bring the other attacker.
She looked back at her father's would-be killer, then turned and looked at him again.
Why?
He has been either infested by a nomad or has completely lost his mind. My particular study can help him with either.
She looked at the door. Unheard by his ears, the sounds of doors being broken into filled the halls.
She turned and stared in that particularly accusatory way of hers. What are you, some sort of psychiatrist?
The teenager chuckled, then immediately regretted the pain that followed. A faint drizzle of blood where glass slashed his skin fell down his face, touching it slightly with his hand. He stared at her pretty face. In a way, yes.
She turned, paused, then said ...I do not think that bringing the killer would help anything. Even if you do get him to your ....station, she spat out the word, I don't know if I could trust your word. I'm sorry, but I'm not bringing him.
The teen was torn between 2 decisions, extra study, or saving people. He looks back and forth, then sighed, realize he would have to leave one of the two behind. Alright......we'll leave him.
She looked at his face. If what you say is true, then we need to move.
The teen nodded. There is a gun in my pocket, extra canisters in the other one. I have a collection of anima ready to help at any moment if need be.
Whats a anima?
Never mind, lets jus-
A boom hit the door, startling them both. Soldiers crowded the ruined laboratory, guns drawn.
The young woman stared helplessly as they were surrounded by guards. She sighed a sigh of relief, but a puzzled look came into her face when they also circled her as well. On of them began to whisper. See? Its just like red 3 said, she's probably a killer like he is, regulations be damned.
Katrina watched the soldiers with deep apprehension, dismay on her face.
The teen began to smile.
I think I know the reason why you or your father wasn't affected by this. He gestured at the gun.
The girl stared at him. Had he lost his mind?
My personal philosophy, is to always have an exit strategy. His eyes glistened, and he got to his feet.
One of the soldiers barked at him to get down, but he ignored him.
One word was spoken in response. Catch.
The teenager moved with a speed that caught all of them off-guard. In a flurry of movement, several canisters hit the ground and exploded in an enormous cloud of gas. All of the guards, as one, dropped with out a word, their radios chattering for a report.
I think its time we get out of here, take your father, I'm calling for back up.
She grabbed her father onto her shoulder, while he pressed a button on a small hand held device.
A series of burbling beeps emanated from the device, and a loud clang filled with an odd whirring sound was heard from the other side of the hallway. Lets go. He took a step, then another, then collapsed on his knees. I can't stand he gasped. The damage from the glass in his wounds and injuries from the girl had drained him of all of his strength. That, and running non-stop down the hallways to get to the office.
I can't go on, follow the robots, they will guide you to the ship. I will meet up with you shortly.
She started to complain. What robots? But even as she said it, her question was answered. 3 propeller based robots, sporting rather sinister looking weapons, one of which looked like it was a flamethrower, followed and spread out in a circle around them. Go, I'll follow suite, wait at the ship, I'll be quick.
She stared at him, then ran up out the door, her father and the young man under her shoulder.

The teen looked around. The soldiers were out cold. A thought twisted inside of his mind, and a smile followed.



She ran as fast as she could, with 2 people on her back and only a few vague words of instruction and some robots as her guide. Running past a few startled scientists, she ran into the elevator and jammed the roof top button. A gargle as the elevator speed up, finally dumping its cargo on top. She took a few steps forward, when everything happened at once. Several ships flew up at eye level, and soldiers pounded out of every hidden niche there was on it. All of them, as one raised and pointed their guns at them. A shrill laugh entered the frozen air and one of the soldiers pulled something out of his pocket. She closed her eyes, waiting for the gun shot, when the world exploded in a field of light.

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When the three of them have safely left the office, the teenager donned one of the soldier's garb.
Then he had limped over to the security office and told them They are escaping, they are headed up to the rooftop! The other security guard immediately hit the radio and told him. Then he gestured to the guard that he should go to medical. The bleeding soldier shrugged off the apparent pain and hit the elevator, where he converged dozens of soldiers charging up the stairs. They hid behind some of the air conditioners up top until their prize was visible. They sprung the trap and flooded the two targets in light. Now was the time to move, thought the teenager.

Ian was hoping that with his instruction, they would all group up to the rooftop, so he could catch them all off balance. It was a two step plan. He had loaded the flare gun with his 2 billion lumen EMP flare, and the second shot with his most potent canister yet. It was an extreme relaxant that causes all but the most powerful muscles to immediately go limp. Their eyes would also be blinded <they would receive the most damage from the flare, the eye lids wouldn't close when the gas hit them.> The emp pulse would knock out the surrounding ships for a painful crash onto the ground below. He aimed and fired.

The 2 objects flew into the air. One shot higher, and the other dropped a cloud of gas onto the unsuspecting inhabitants. It worked with out a hitch. Even with her eyesight closed, the professors daughter still was blinded by the light that blew through her eyelids. She shielded her eyes, while something grabbed her other hand, leading her towards the ship. The ship whirred to life, and they sped off the planet, leaving a lot of relaxed <albeit, unhappy> people behind them, unseeing what was happening.


When the guards came to, they looked around for any traces of the targets. After finding nothing, they reported back to the security devision to report of their failed excursion. They later searched the doctors office.

The room had been torn apart. Blood was splattered everywhere, books blown apart, the monitors were broken, and shards of glass everywhere. The light no longer worked, and green gas laid low across the floor, finding no way to escape. They searched and searched, attempting to gain leeway onto their positions, but found nothing.


The ship exited orbit. It was moving slowly, and most of the armed forces in the area was busy listening to what has happening planet-side. Nobody was concerned about what the tiny black spatial was directed. It went into a trade lane, and left the local area. A few minutes later, it stopped half-way in the trade lane and began to angle downwards. It flew on and on until it reached a small space station, where it docked. The station rotated and went forward, until a small, almost undetectable rift in space was detected. They touched, and were sucked inside. A few moments later, a gigantic boom imploded as the rift collapsed on its self, sending debris flying towards the center, bouncing dangerously off each other as they began their mad gyrations. The police in the area came to investigate, only to assume that a lone gas tank from some old ship had displaced the field of junk.

---

Some say that he is allergic to a fungus found only between the toes of Corsairs,
and that he is oblivious to 98% of Liberty Law. All we know is...
He's called the Busdriver!