Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Cyborg Recovery Project (SET Initiative RP)

Arrow nodded, and wheeled the chair in that direction. He pushed the doors open, and walked through. He figured his friends might be in here. A few people stood up and waved, and Arrow smiled and waved back. His lasers had earned him "cool" status among the other SET Operatives; Well, that and him being in the most elite Squad in the whole SET Initiative. They were referred to as the Rangers now: The most elite group on SET. The guys who waved had respect for the group, now more than ever, due to the countless injuries suffered by the group. Red and Jack's deaths, alongside Austin's stab attack and the spike incident, and now Kenneth's major hit against a wall, made sure that these guys would honor anything the Rangers said.

Austin shrugged with a smile before taking another drink from his glass, and finishing his drink as well. "I guess we just keep trying because we keep hoping that it will work then, huh?" He chuckled before seeing Kenneth and Arrow. "Hey, look who's out and about. Hey! Kenneth, Arrow! Over here!"

Arrow turned to see Austin and Amy, and smiled again, wheeling Kenneth around to move over to them, and pulled up a chair for himself. He and Kenneth were up at the table by now.

He's a bit hard of hearing right now, so you might want to translate what we say. Arrow suggested to Amy via thought. Not that she wouldn't translate what Arrow said anyway; Arrow didn't speak out loud. But now there was Kenneth, too.

"How are you guys?" Austin asked.

Amy sort f, half laughed at that, but would soon be distracted, as her attention was drawn to Kenneth and Arrow, who'd just arrived. She was surprised to see Kenneth out of bed so soon. Miracle of medicine she supposed.

She nodded to Arrow, letting him know she would do just as he'd suggested.

How are you feeling? she would think to Kenneth alone.

Can you hear my thoughts? kenneth thought back at her.

I can. She answered quickly enough.

Allright. Kenneth sighed. I feel how I look, battered. But I'll be fine. if those heli's didn't show up, that ogre would've gotten me good. I didn't expect one all the way out there. He managed a smile.

"Says he's fine" She simplified, not a person of many words. Letting the others know.

Austin smiled with difficulty. Somehow seeing a teammate in that state was even worse than being wounded himself, as if it was his responsibility.

"That's great! We're glad to see him moving around again, even if it's in a wheelchair." He chuckled somewhat forcibly, for Kenneth's sake.

(Finally, Oaky! Where the heck have you been?!? I've waited for freaking ever! Come here you little-)

Wildner took a noteblock and a pen from his pocket and scribbled something on it, then gave it to Austin.
"No need to worry, Austin. No blame lies with you."

Austin took the paper and smiled. He took the pen and wrote back:


"Thanks, Kenneth. It's just hard to see a friend like this. As a team leader, I still kind of feel responsible."

Arrow looked at Amy. Something especially weighing on your mind?

Amy was grateful for Arrow's concern but she was okay for the most part. As okay as she could be anyway. It was sort of a heavy conversation. she offered as excuse for her silence, though, she probably didn't have to. Everyone was pretty much used to her silence.

The only thing Austin heard were his own panicked, forced, heaving breaths. The only thing he felt was the pain in his chest. The stab wound he had received from that Infected felt worse than it did when he first received it.

Red was the only thing Austin saw. Dripping, oozing, gushing red dominated his entire being, and it scared him. Shades of crimson defined his vision as he wrestled, battled with himself to stay conscious. To remain in control.

He sensed flesh. Prey. Someone new to bring into the army. Better yet, it was her.

No no NO!! He couldn't think like that! Not now! Especially not now! She- They were his teammates! His allies! His friends!

But he served a new master now. One that had no sense of friendship, loyalty, or kindness. Only control. Brutal, cold. One that would put everyone in their place. He was merely a pawn now.

Absolutely not. He made an oath. He would go through a wall for his friends. He was certainly not going to betray them now.

Damn, his head hurt.

It started out small, this venomous evil that coursed through Austin's veins. Merely small, out of character remarks that might make some scratch their heads. Easily overlooked. He began acting odd at times. Catching himself places he never thought he would be, having thoughts about plans. Memorizing and rememorizing blueprints to parts of the base he didn't even want to visit.

Then there was today. It hit like a freight train.

Austin, against his very own will, rolled out of bed, and began to walk towards the door.

Good morning, Commander. Your coffee is ready.

The AI went unnoticed. Austin's automatic door slid open as he advanced, oh so painfully closer to the entrance. Every muscle screamed for him to give up, to give in to the desires of this foreign parasite.

Only a drop or two was needed to infect a human. Something easily done. Every member of the infected infantry was under the command of The Infection: A Cyborg of medical science designed to seek out and destroy/heal bad cells in the body, making for rapid recovery during combat. It was granted sentience to be able to find said harmed areas, but that sentience quickly evolved and took over. These Infected infantrymen found themselves covered in the medicine, and dripped with it. They became zombies, freaks of science. Their arms formed weapons, one of which punctured Austin's torso during a recent attack on a small city. Only a few drops were transferred into the blood stream from that major wound.

Only a few drops did major damage.

Austin screamed in agony. His mind was under assault. His body was not his own. But he recognized a face through the shades of crimson: He saw Amy.


Austin probably looked awful. He was covered in blood. His body was fighting with itself. Muscles bulged and reformed, spikes grew and retracted. He was contradicting the infection with every ounce of willpower he had.

Yet it wasn't enough.

Austin uttered one last word before his mind surrendered completely: "Run."

~~~~

Arrow heard the alarms and quickly vaulted out of his cot. He pressed a button on his watch and he was quickly covered in materialized SET Armor. These alarms were not training alarms. These alarms meant that they were under attack.

His first instinct was to find Amy. The last time they had heard alarms like this had been during their escape from the lab: a traumatizing experience indeed. His HUD readout displayed a radar which located the rest of the team in minutes. Kenneth was most likely already prepared, wearing his own special armor and gear. Arrow ran to find him. The team seemed to be gathered in the same place. In a hallway in the east dormitory complex. His enhanced speed helped him reach the place in a matter of minutes, just in time to tackle an infected abomination who was about to slash Kenneth's throat. Lasers burned the Infection, but they weren't enough. It grabbed Arrow by the shoulders and slammed him into a nearby wall, screaming and roaring like a thing of nightmares. It sprouted SET armor and wore a SET helmet. More importantly, those were Austin's colors. The armor's gaps were punctuated by fleshy spikes, formed from Infection goo. Claws broke the tips of the gloves' fingers, bleeding red.

All Arrow could think before passing out was Austin?


(OOC: I moved your characters around to make things interesting. Hope you don't mind. Thanks for being so patient with me!)

Amy had been on her way back to her room after an early breakfast, she was planning on heading to one of the training rooms, but had gotten rather understandably sidetracked, when she's stumbled into Austin.

Holy mother of god, he was in bad shape. In fact, the situation was exactly the one she'd been fearing all along. "Austin?! Oh god..." She wanted to help him in some way, but what could she do? She started to reach out for him, but reality kicked in, thankfully before she moved any closer, instead, she backed up a couple of feet. He was telling her to run, she couldn't though, the alarms were messing with her head. She was more scared then she had any right being. Her hand went to her wrist, for the watch, engaging her armour.

The thing, that had been Austin at one point turned on Kenneth instead, who'd come upon the scene, leaving Amy for the moment. Arrow too, had come, just in time to rescue Kenneth, before he was thrown rather unceremoniously into the wall. She was worried for him, but could do nothing at the moment, unfortunately Austin needed to be dealt with first.

She tried to reach out to him with her mind, was there anything of him left at all?

Wildner got out of bed almost immediately when he heard the alarm. He hadn't been with the SET operatives for long, but he know what this alarm meant: an attack. He quickly got geared up and slung his rifle over his shoulder, then ran out of the room. Just in time to see Austin - or what previously was Austin - stumble out of his room.

"What the..." was all he could say before the creature smashed him into the wall. As wildner hung there, Austin raised a claw up high, aiming to sever his throat. Kenneth went for his pistol at his belt, but before he could reach it, something smashed into the infected, hard. Wildner dropped to the ground, his knees giving away underneath him. He flew sprawling, then turned around to see what had saved him. It was Arrow who had smashed into the creature's side.
"Amy! Do you know of a way we can get Austin back!?"

Austin gripped his head and roared- Or was it screamed? In pain. He was fully aware of what he was doing and had no way to stop it. The animal instinct took over once again, and he once again couldn't control himself. Even his free will was beginning to fade...

~~~~

The thing that was once Austin lunged at Arrow. Luckily, Arrow was only unconscious for a few seconds, and had quickly recovered. He was able to easily dodge and maneuver around the beast, slamming a red-hot fist straight into Austin's back. This elicited a roar, and a punch to the face which sent Arrow flying backwards once again.

By this time, multiple units of SET Operatives had arrived. They weren't so savvy on this monster's identity, and launched an attack. Soldier after wounded soldier was tossed aside, having been brutalized in at least two ways. Luckily none had their armor pierced... Yet.

Order them to stand down! We need a way to stop him without killing him! Arrow ran up again and tried to tackle Austin to the ground, but was instead grabbed and slammed to the floor. How was this thing faster than the human bullet? Arrow was designed to be faster than any living thing on Earth! There was no way that he could- Ow. And there he was, slammed into a wall once more.

We need to switch to less lethal weapons! Tell them to switch to less lethal! Arrow's helmet recognized the thought this time, and transmitted it to the rest of the team. Unfortunately, they were on a different radio frequency from the other units, so only Amy and Kenneth heard.

"GRAAHHHH!!!" Mr. Hyde roared and charged at Amy this time.

Amy didn't need to be told twice. She reacted quickly. Reaching out to all of the solders in the area. Sudue him, don't kill. Use less lethal weapons!

It was then he'd chosen to run at her. In seconds she was trying to fill his head with horrid noise, trying to impair him.

Kenneth quickly crawled back into his room and tossed his guns aside. No need for those, they were just dead weight. He got a sedation gun and a tranquilizer knife from his bag. "This'll do..." he muttered, and ran back out to find Arrow being slammed into the ground again. He quickly aimed, but his haste caused his aim to be off, and the first shot missed.

Austin's armor detected the telepathic interference and put up a barrier to protect him. Even though Austin wasn't in there, his armor was still as good as ever. No noises would stop them this time.

Austin ran straight into Amy, and tried to grab her at the throat. He raised his claw- But stopped for some reason.

He backed up and clenched his head, giving Kenneth the perfect shot. The mutations were fluctuating in his body, spikes retracted, and muscles moved. He maintained a normal size despite the size of other Infected enemies that they had encountered. It probably wasn't healthy, psychologically or physically. Austin was fighting himself, and he didn't want to hurt anyone.

This is it!
Kenneth quickly ran up and pulled Amy away from Austin and set her to lean against the wall. "Are you allright?" he quickly asked. His attention, however, was quckly pulled away by Austin again. "Is he... fighting himself?" Then it hit Kenneth. "He might still be there, somewere!" He quickly took his dartgun bck and ran up to him. "Come here!" One of the spikes lashed out at him, and he jumped up against a wall to avoid it. As he flew backward, he saw another spike lunge for him, and he wouldn't have the time to dodge this time. He quickly switched his gun to his left hand and pointed it toward the creature. As if a miracle, the dart hit home, burying itself in the creature's neck. The sedative worked immediately, and the infected Austn dropped down, its attack towards Kenneth stopping in mid-air.

Her telepathic attack had not worked, and for a brief second she'd thought she was going to have to raise arms against him. She would have, if she'd had to, but she didn't like it. He'd lunged for her, but something had stopped him, before she'd had a chance to grab her weapon. Was he fighting himself?

Kenneth had come to help, he was pulling her away, towards the wall, asking her if she was okay. She ripped herself away from him. Even in times of utter chaos, touching was not okay with her.

He was able to hit Austin, with a dart gun, She wondered if it had pierced the armour. She waited with bated breath, to see.

A tendril whipped out of nowhere and smashed the small dart out of the air.

This thing's senses were keener than previously perceived. Perhaps that intermingled with its using Austin's brain to access the armor's HUD, AI, Computer, and Tactical Analysis programs might have something to do with it.

What idiots. Don't they know they'll all become like me eventually?

No, they won't! I won't let it happen?

Why? What the hell have they ever done for me? I signed up to kill stuff, to prove myself. So now I'm doing it.

I signed up to help people, and to resolve a threat to potentially all of mankind. Proving myself isn't going to happen by killing all of my teammates. It would be wrong to betray them after all we've been through.

Like what? Jack's suicide? Or Red's sudden, bloody end? Or how about the two attacks that nearly ended my life and Kenneth's? It's time to join the winning side.

NO! I refuse to give up! I am not giving up on the team when they need as much help as they can get!

To hell with the team! They'll all be happy when they've been turned into the ultimate beings they truly deserve to be!

Like those freaks we fought back in Canada?

Austin's mental debate raged on as he alternated between retreating and lashing out. There were a few openings in the armor where blood spikes smashed through but were retracted due to Austin's fight for control. If Kenneth could hit one of those openings...

~~~~

Arrow shook his head and stood up once more. I'll draw his attention, Kenneth! You just focus on getting a way to hit him with that thing! His thought translator spoke out through the comm system.

He jumped and tried to tackle Austin, firing lasers that didn't do much against the armor andlashing out with all the physical force he had. He ran circles around Austin to draw attacks.