trans_9 | Target Practice (Open!)

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Target Practice (Open!)

Zouichi had heard about the Sensoriums from other people aboard the ship, and though he'd been a little apprehensive at first, had decided to pay them a visit. Or rather, he'd decided to pay Earth a visit.

After all, it was hard to go for a real ride on a disturbingly squishy ship.

If there had been any police left, he would have been pulled over for speeding and quite possibly reckless endangerment. But there weren't. What there were was vast expanses of jet-black concrete laid empty for miles ahead of him, honeycombing through levels of the massive megacity at insane angles.

So he punched it, hard. The motorcycle surged forward toward the city, its display ticking steadily past a series of numbers: 100, 200, 300...

Now he was blazing across the city connector bridge, rising quickly with the road as it extended upwards on struts held high above the level of the water that surrounded the old metropolis. Fuyu chirped an alert to him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the machine rising up seemingly from beneath the raised concrete, its thrusters a bright blue blaze in the reddening light. Zouichi slowed; it kept perfect pace.

It was sleek, newly manufactured. The model number 4-D was stamped neatly across one gleaming wing. As he watched, the shutters beneath both wings snapped open, revealing two long, wicked metal barrels.

Before him, the gates of the city yawned open. From here, he could see the beginning activity of the drones inside, shambling forward mindlessly in the direction of sound and perceived movement, searching for something.

Something they could really sink their teeth into.

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Howard's been keeping an eye out for Zouichi, figuring from their brief encounter that at the very least, Zouichi would probably be a good ally to have in a fight. To Howard, Zouichi seemed like a stand-up guy, and those are often the easiest to predict - and thus might be easier for Howard to use for his own ends, if he wanted to.

He did not, however, expect to see an incredible motorcycle and what looks like zombies that Zouichi's going to deal some hurt to.

If this were his own fabrication, Howard would conjure popcorn. Instead he just mimes eating it, and gives Zouichi a little wave. "Test Tube Baby versus mindless drones, my money's on the motorcycle."

Zouichi's a little preoccupied, turning sharply as the mech cuts loose with a spray of bullets that tear up the road in the bike's wake. Fuyu takes partial control of the vehicle as he turns backwards briefly, snapping off a quick shot with his sidearm.

The shell clips one wing of the flying drone. There's no explosion, only the sound of an impact. Then a hole about two feet in diameter opens abruptly in the machine's gleaming metal, as if it was tunneled through.

Suddenly off-balance, the mech shears off in an uncontrolled spin, hitting the side of the heavy siege gate. It explodes, the impact sending metal fragments skittering across the road and into the water below.

Zouichi spots the familiar figure, looking mildly horrified for a second. "Howard!" He's not... entirely sure whether the Sensorium is 100% safe for a bystander, especially one who doesn't look armed, so he heads toward Howard, shooting the bike through the narrowing gap of zombies crowding the entrance.

[ooc: Heyy :D Wanna go for a motorcycle ride?]

"That was awesome." He still flinches at the shrapnel, even though he's been told it's pretty much impossible to get hurt in the Sensoriums without overriding the system. "Hey, Zuoichi. I hear you actually have to work to get hurt in this thing, but you're probably giving it a run for its money right now."

He doesn't know how much Zuoichi hears of that over the sound of motorbike and zombies.

Zouichi does hear most of that, and pulls the bike over to where Howard is standing. It's a little hard to tell through the helmet, but there's the definite beginnings of a smile on his face.

"Want a ride?"

"Does the pope wear a hat?" he asks, grinning. He steps up to the bike and then cocks his head as he's not entirely sure how to get on.

Zouichi extends a hand to help boost Howard up behind him. With his other hand, he flips his sidearm over, offering the pistol to his passenger.

"It's charged, just point and shoot," he says, remembering what Howard said about not having any fighting experience. "Be careful of the kickback."

"Are we doing this for points or just for the hell of this? And honestly, if this is your world, the sweet bike doesn't quite make up for having to put up with those guys." He thinks back to watching Drake use all those guns, though he's pretty sure those were just old-fashioned bullets instead of 'charged', whatever that means. Straight forward, arms solid but elbows unlocked, shoulder height, braced for kickback. His first shot goes a bit wide but the form's not bad.

"Call it target practice," says Zouichi. Howard was right; it didn't really make up for the drones, but the motorcycle was familiar, comforting, and most of all, fast.

The drones in the streets ahead are shuffling forward towards the sound of the approaching vehicle. They're not particularly fast, but they have advance notice now. Zouichi brings the bike forward, once again picking up speed. From somewhere along the sleek black metal of the vehicle, he pulls out another weapon -- a long, slender, wickedly sharp axe, the metal as black as the bike.

"There should be a big drone in the middle," he says, not really elaborating on what a 'big drone' is. "Let's see how far we can get."

[The gravity gun Zouichi gave Howard basically works like a pistol to shoot, but punches big holes through things instead of firing bullets (http://zouichi.livejournal.com/984.html#cutid6). It will punch through pretty much anything; one shot will take down a normal drone]

Two more shots and Howard's taken down his first drone. He's always keenly observed other people in fight experiences, even though he's never participated, and it pays off in that he never forgets about the kickback. His adrenalin's pumping - even knowing that this is the Sensoriums and no real damage can happen, even knowing Zouichi must know exactly what he's doing, it's definitely more exciting and terrifying than anything he's seen on Stacy so far. And yet, he's having fun.

"Why does 'big drone' sound like something most people would drive away from, Zou? And how often do you get to the end?"

Hm, how often did he get to the end? "Every time," he answered, which was true. "But sometimes I get there late." Too late to stop a missile launch, too late to stop an Accommodator from being kidnapped -- although there's always a way around it, always a Plan B.

"Drones infected by the original N5S virus are slow, mindless, and about the same size as the original infectee," he said as they turned a curve. A drone got too close with its grasping arms, and he dispatched it quickly with a swing of the axe. The force plus the speed of the bike sent it reeling back into the crowd, causing its neighbors to fall or stagger backwards.

"The big ones -- and the ones that can talk -- they weren't accidentally infected. They were created. And they're always nastier.

"So why were you wandering around? Looking for someone?"

"Nastier as in what? Besides bigger, faster? Weaponized? You say they talk, so they must be smarter, how much smarter?" Even as he shoots another drone, his mind is racing. "Are we talking smart enough to plan and deceive? And do you ever need to reload this gun?"

He shrugs, even though Zouichi more than likely won't see it. "Intense mindsucking boredom. You? Practicing for the Olympic event in zombie-killing?"

"It depends. Stronger usually, faster. And they're not connected to the hive mind, either; that was the biggest drawback of the virus, from a corporate point of view. What's the point of immortality as a drone if you lose your sense of individuality, your ability to think?"

He catches another zombie just under the jaw. "The most recent strains barely change physical appearance at all. Some of them look almost entirely human. And they have their own minds, of course, their own motivations. The most advanced ones, they can form their own bio-organic armor, or develop psychokinesis. So I guess they've succeeded in granting themselves superpowers."

"The GBE doesn't need to be charged often and the recharge cycle is automatic. It'll give you notice long in advance if it starts running out of power." One zombie encounter isn't enough to seriously tax it, anyway.

The bike's display changes, emitting the tiny, pale image of young woman hovering by Zouichi's shoulder. "Take a left at the next turn," she says.

He turns as she directed, sparing a brief glance over his shoulder. "Well, wouldn't want my skills to get rusty."

"Great. Immortal zombies with superpowers. They really thought this out, didn't they?" Now that he's realized that a downed zombie's about as useful as a dead zombie, he's just shooting them in the chest instead of going for a headshot each time. It's improved his hit-to-fire ratio dramatically. He's more than glad he doesn't have to figure out how to reload the weapon while doing any of this. "So this computer lady's our Obi-Wan. Cool."

He peeks over Zouichi's shoulder to get a better shot at some of the drones near the front. "Yeah, obviously they're just covered in rust. Did you learn how to drive in Hollywood or is it a natural talent for you synthetic humans?"

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