I've gained Nothing, therefore I have Nothing left to Lose. [open]

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

He’d failed.

He’d failed miserably.

Everything had gone according to plan. Dustin got a layout of the ship, figured out all the key locations, found his weapons and tools, and had made it down to Neuropathy with only a few distractions here and there. True, once he got inside and Kirk got involved (along with security and the Major), things got a little out of hand for a few minutes. But in the end he still managed to get through to Stacy’s mainframe via one of the inorganic consoles and his cellphone—and, just as he expected, he ran into a pretty powerful defense mechanism.

Dustin had never seen anything quite like it before. The code itself was in an alien language and format (though that admittedly did not take long to sort out), and once he’d translated it into something recognizable it engulfed anything he threw at it. It was through sheer luck that he was able to decrypt and block the section that related to physical ship defenses so that Stacy didn’t hurt anyone while he was working—or, worse yet, hurt the one he was trying to save in the process.

It took roughly forty minutes of continuous typing, referencing, sweating and cursing for Dustin to probe his way through most of the security code. He was able to safely disable about a third of it. Two-thirds was beginning to look like a possible window of success, and at the rate that he was learning the code and adapting to Stacy’s counter-scripts his task was slowly becoming easier. Then, just as Dustin thought he had the hang of things, right when he let his guard down for the first time, the AI struck back viciously and managed to completely disable his phone, therefore destroying any chance he had at the time of getting past. The speed and ferocity in which it did so was totally unexpected, as if Stacy was predicting how Dustin would react next in order to disable each strand she threw at him—but this, this was impossible…not that he didn’t believe in telepathy, but he’d long thought that the frequency and turbulence of his thoughts made his mind impenetrable, equating to something like putting one’s finger in a blender if attempted. How she managed was less of a mystery; it was more bizarre how Dustin had managed to overlook such a glaring possibility in his preparations…

How could he have been so dumb?

It was a miracle that he’d escaped the brig (and the Major, no less), but now Dustin was on the run from everyone and everything. Judging from the crowd that had amassed and followed him inside Neuropathy, there was no doubt that his failed endeavor to get inside Stacy’s brain and fix her, once and for all, had long since been broadcasted to everyone’s Omnicom and had earned him widespread acrimony. Though, then again, he’d still managed to get pretty far into her programming to prove that he’d put up an impressive fight, one that few were probably expecting from him.

No matter; it still wasn’t enough.

So now, downtrodden, starved and exhausted, Dustin wandered into the City. He hadn’t eaten or slept since he woke up, kept hydrated only because he was stabbed by annoying tentacles each time he passed through the Living Area. Frankly he hadn’t expected that he would be on this ship long enough to worry about such matters.

Obviously he was wrong.

Staggering, the scruffy man’s gaunt figure walked blindly forward in a trance-like march. His deep green eyes, accented with bright red veins, were wide open and unblinking, staring at nothing, and yet wandering this way and that as if following invisible lines of text. The gears in his head were turning, nigh audible if one pays attention—though that sound is actually Dustin muttering to himself, quietly and without moving his lips. He seems to be speaking in…Russian? It doesn’t matter, what with the translating systems, because even with them he’s not saying anything coherent. Just numbers and letters…

Comments

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

Alessa had been working on her purposes for a long time. She was far more concerned with fighting off a God of nightmares than she was Stacy. All she was, as far as she was concerned, was a vehicle, one that rode them around. Wasting her time trying to get out then was far from her mind. She wanted to fight off the God that would attack in the sleep at the subconscious.

So she was not expecting a staggering, tired man wandering about, who seemed to be wary of being fund. Alessa, not unused to being an outsider, approached him.

"What HAVE you been doing?"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

There was a girl there.

Dustin barely registered her presence, brushing past as he continued to stumble onward. Her appearance, however, was…intriguing, to say the least. Almost as if she was a hallucination. Maybe she was?

Well in that case, what could be the harm of replying?

The famished man stopped abruptly and chanced a peek at the odd child figure, bloodshot eyes studying her with mild interest. He seemed altogether unconvinced that she actually existed.

“What’s it to you?”

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

"Curiosity," the girl answered. "You look as if you're running away from something, and nothing too small. "If you're looking for absolution, I'm afraid I can't give it to you. I'm not a priest."

She observed the rather jarring look in his eyes, and gave him a smile.

"But if you're looking for a place to hide out, to disappear, that can be arranged."

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Not that he needed any of those things, but why not? She was only a hallucination, after all.

Then again, having creepy young girl versions of Thalia was less than reassuring—or productive, for that matter. “Go be curious someplace else. I’m trying to—“

Thalia. Muse. Was this her?

Dustin did a complete double take, surprised but dreading some unknown outcome at the same time.

“Are you Thalia?”

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

"The curiosity isn't for my sake, its for yours," Alessa answered. "But if you're sure you can brave whatever is coming next, be my guest. I'm not exactly the accommodating type."

Alessa shrugged. "I don't know a Thalia. I am Alessa."

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Not Thalia, but still a hallucinatory messenger of some sort…or perhaps it was his own version of her. He’d never experienced it quite like Codi had, so he couldn’t be sure if this “Alessa” person was of similar origin. It was worth pretending though. What else had he to lose?

Dustin found himself smirking, mostly out of his own insanity rather than actual amusement.

“Are you the herald or the mastermind?”

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

"A demon," Alessa said. "Though I have been both those things in order to impart a message. But if you're taken care of, and nothing is wrong, you can continue to walk about by yourself. I'm not stopping you."

She shrugged. "I have no allegiance toward the hierarchy of the crew."

[starlightace]

Dustin might have noted the magenta light in the City "sky" that was one auburn-haired girl weaving through buildings, not for training so much as it was out of the sheer joy of flight... and on one particularly low swoop, she spotted the figure staggering through the streets and pulled around to touch down on the ground a good twenty or so feet in front of him, calling out to him with concern in her voice. "Is everything all right? What's the matter?"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Dustin had not noticed the magenta light in the sky because he was too busy staring at a point several feet directly in front of him. Therefore, Nanoha went pretty much unnoticed until the man almost ran into her.

By that point she’d already talked to him, but Dustin had chosen not to listen. But now she was in his way; he made a point of taking his time to turn his head back so that he could look her in the eyes.

“I need quiet,” he muttered, emotionless but with a permanent scowl.

[starlightace]

She frowned. "No, you need rest, by the looks of it. What happened? You look dead on your feet!"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

How did he know this would happen? For this size of this ship people had a way of seeking Dustin out exactly when he didn’t want them to be there. Even the City, which seemed deserted enough last time he’d passed through it, already had someone patrolling it! The nerve of these creatures!

“I might as well be!” Dustin snarled, moving violently forward as to push past this annoyingly nice woman, “If it keeps people from bugging me, then perhaps being dead would be the better option!”

[starlightace]

Unfortunately for Dustin, Nanoha's Flier Fin was still active, and so she flew back several steps to keep in front of him, her eyes narrowing.

"I don't know what's so important, but in case you hadn't heard, this really isn't the best time to be pushing yourself like this - not with the Nightmare King. We're going to need everyone to be at the top of their game... and you look like you're going to collapse on the spot!"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Heh. Nightmare King. What was this, the NC-17 version of Yoshi’s Island?

“I don’t need your help,” Dustin grumbled, increasing his pace while making a point to not look directly at this floating annoyance. The flying hardly put him off—he knew several people with levitation abilities. He’d even studied a few of them in order to document the different variations that they came in. Self-propelled flight was quite the dynamic ability, if you can believe it.

[slainrobots.livejournal.com]

Once again, Yoshimi was just wandering, minding her own business, muttering occasionally, her speech abstract enough that the core didn't translate. Trailing Japanese and the soft sound of footsteps, she let herself be led where the would, and it was all well and good until she noticed movement, and fell back to the present.

Eyes widening to saucer-proportions, she steps backwards, biting back a foul curse as she recognizes Dustin. Much to her humiliation, her face immediately colors, and she becomes clumsy, running into the corner of a building.

"$@#&!"

And, with a groan, she bends at the waist, rubbing at her kidney, where a loose brick had jabbed into her back, eyes screwed up in pain. She's so distracted that she doesn't notice the Russian, absorbed as she is in swearing fluently in Japanese. Fortunately, the core doesn't know most of the curses, vile as they are.

So much for being sneaky.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Yoshimi might as well have been screaming “It’s a Small World” at the top of her lungs while frolicking circles and throwing flower petals in the air—Dustin barely noticed her.

Though, being ignored by one so readily accustomed to jabbing at people’s nerves at every opportunity might capture the robot slayer’s attention better than any insult the man could’ve thrown at her. He kept walking.

[slainrobots.livejournal.com]

And, indeed, his silence does rather capture her attention, namely because it means she can escape without further insult.

She is about to scamper away, pretend that this little would-be incident never almost happened, when she notices his posture - dejected, etched with exhaustion, ragged. He looks nearly worn to death, and, unfortunately, she still has enough compassion for her fellow man that this concerns her. It then occurs to her that Dustin not taking the opportunity to laugh in someone else's face is a bit... out of character, and, sane part of her mind screaming all the way, she pads off after him.

She catches up quickly - he's walking rather slowly - and glances at his face, eyebrow arching at the expression fixed there. The Russian is a little odd, too.

"Someone steal your teddy bear, kid? Your face is all... sad-like."

Now that is tact. Right there.
Yup.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Pink hair, snarky attitude, furiously blushing face—it was Yoshimi all right, and with a bruised ego as always. Dustin halted his Russian mantra, glancing up at her with bloodshot eyes and raising a thick brow (the most emotion he’d show so far).

“I don’t have time for you,” Dustin growled, turning his gaze back at the ground in front of him.

[slainrobots.livejournal.com]

Well.

Well.

Yoshimi is royally offended, and she intends to make him aware of the face. Except that he looks so pitiful and tired and grouchy that she's really not sure he's up to being verbally attacked. In fact, it doesn't look like he's up to much more than some slop from the mess hall and a subsequent collapse in his room.

Sighing, she steps in front of him, hoping that he'll stop without her having to touch him.

"You're obviously not cool with life right now, but you look like hell, Dustin. When was the last time you ate something? Or slept?" She eyes him critically, trying to ignore how short she feels standing this close to someone of... well, not-nearly-as-vertically-challenged height.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Thankfully Dustin stopped before he ran into her, but even with some distance he’s still smelling kinda interesting.

Now what did she want? Was she…actually interested in his wellbeing? No.

“Why the hell would you care?” he blinked, glaring pointedly.

[raptorwithagun.livejournal.com]

Red Snout, as he was wont to do these days, wandered the hallways. He was restless. His dreams had been unsettling these past nights and he found that the only way to truly keep his mind off them was to get up and move, find something to do besides sit and scheme to himself, do more than brood on the situation he found himself in. Of course, he smelt the (unwashed) human before he saw him. And when he did see Dustin, he was appalled. He was scrawny and weak looking, even for a human. What was this nonsense? Was the human trying to look like an easy target. The raptor huffed quietly and approached, tail bobbing, rifle cradled easily in his forearms.

"Have you been driven mad, human? Or are you naturally a simple-minded thing?"

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

There was a velociraptor. Or…or a small bipedal dinosaur of some sort, whatever. Ironically Dustin probably wouldn’t have even noticed it unless it had addressed him directly, at which point he showed only mild interest in the creature and continued walking.

…Double-take. Said dinosaur is familiar and is carrying—a rifle? What?

Dustin instinctively reached for a nonexistent gun in a backpack that had long since been taken away from him. His Russian mantra quickly segued into a string of violent curses.

“Maybe I am?” quipped the scruffy man, calming down enough to reply recognizably and to show some amount of skepticism at what he was really looking at. Perhaps this was another hallucination brought on by his lack of sleep?

“Are you really a prehistoric reptile with a large firearm?”

[raptorwithagun.livejournal.com]

"I am a raptor, and I am armed with a rifle, yes." Red Snout grinned a rather unpleasant grin as he slowly began to circle the human, eying him up and down. What a strange creature. At the least the other humans kept themselves fed and kempt.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

So he’d probably be a lot more in control of his nerves if he was armed. In this case, however, Dustin was half starved and exhausted, and the friggin’ raptor was the one with the gun. How unfair was that?

…Eh. He’d gotten out of worse situations. Though, with any luck, if this ‘Red Snout’ character (if he remembered correctly) took the first strike, then Dustin might have a chance of disarming him and turning the tables. Those chances were…highly unlikely, however.

“Any particular reason for gracing me with your presence?” Dustin blinked sarcastically, shifting to a noticeably more defensive stance.

[raptorwithagun.livejournal.com]

"There is not. I was wandering and found you. You seemed to be in a state of mind-sickness." The raptor tilted his head to one side, a gesture that might be interpreted as a shrug. Humans were so very strange. They were smart (but not as smart as raptors, naturally), but take away their tools and their buildings and they were nothing more than soft, pink, helpless things that were so very easily disposed of.

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

And Dustin shrugged back at him.

“Yeah, I won’t argue with you there,” he blinked slowly, watching the raptor’s arms and gun with attentive, bloodshot eyes, “Quite frankly I’m starting to think this is all one big hallucination. None of it adds up.”

For Dustin to be saying that he doesn’t understand something…well, that’s definitely a bad thing. He always makes a point of learning everything there is to learn about a place. Therefore, if Dustin had noticable gaps in his comprehension, the situation was either completely illogical (thus, not real) or there was information not yet available for him to study.

“I mean, all things considered.”