A New Challenger Approaches

[sentbydpd]

He'd thought at first that it was a nightmare, a result of a bender after a particularly bad case; no matter how the people in his life that cared about him tried, the alcohol was still part of his life, a crutch and a numbing agent that he preferred over facing his problems and the people that were involved. The fog, dark and glittering with sinister red flecks, enveloping him where he'd collapsed in the stairwell of his building, making him feel as if he had slid back down them until he was lying in damp grass and staring up at stars that make him think that he's no longer in the middle of downtown Detroit.

Worse, he was sober. He wanted to die and he no longer had a drop of alcohol in his system to dull it. Miserable, cold, and aching, Connor sat up and inspected himself in case there might be some indication of what had happened to him. But there was nothing, just patches of wetness from the grass on his jeans and the outer layer of his slightly obnoxiously patterned button-up, the plain black shirt underneath untucked but otherwise pristine. He sat in the grass for a long while and puzzled quietly over it all, before pushing himself to his feet and panning around for any sign of life.

He didn't recognize what kind of trees he was surrounded by, so that told him he wasn't close to home. Concerning. He started to walk straight in the hopes of finding any indication that civilization might be nearby, trailed by that same mist that curled around his ankles until he found a bubble of blessed firelight. Nobody present that he could tell, but the presence of the bonfire and arranged logs around it told him that they couldn't have gone far, nor that they'd been gone for long. So he sat, elbows on his knees and his hands rubbing together slowly in front of his mouth as he debated on how to approach whatever was happening to him now. If he'd been kidnapped, he at least knew how to handle that.

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[sentbydpd]

Connor's eyes followed the bottle as it changed hands, but he kept it to himself as he made to follow behind Jake. He met others' eyes with a steady look, not quite challenging or intimidating, terribly world-weary for as young as he seemed. There would surely be some speculation over what would be happening with this guy before they were tossed into another match.

In the meantime, Connor was happy to just sit down on the edge of the offered bed without a thought spared to the quality of it. He just rubbed his hands over his face and grumbled his acknowledgment of Jake attempting to be hospitable. The question of what might be following him here was met with a bleary sort of frown, and he took a long moment to consider what he'd seen over the course of his life.

His first thought was one of his youngest siblings, and the man that helped him at the funeral home he owned. But from what he'd heard of the monsters so far, he couldn't say Curtis fit that bill and Toby didn't strike him as a particularly bad person.

"All my monsters were just human beings that did bad shit. There was one...fucking Frankenstein type. Made household androids into horrific things that could still walk around and try to function. So...maybe him, or one of them."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Sitting up Jake set aside his carving and looked at the other with wide eyes.

"That's fucked up, why would someone-no wait...I can consider the why. The same reason as some of the crazies here. Because they can. Because it's 'fun' in their fucked up views." Jake grumbled and shook his head. "It could have grabbed someone like that...or one of his creations and tormented it...made it kill for It."

There's a heavy sigh as Jake looked up at Conner again.

"So are there a lot of them...androids I mean? I'm guessing you mean like actually androids and not just the simple robots we have."

[sentbydpd]

Connor got the impression that he would be seeing that reaction a lot when it came to the existence of androids. He nodded as Jake answered one of his own questions without much effort. Then he started searching through his pockets as he explained further:

"The android rollout after Kamski took over at Cyberlife was pretty damn fast actually. First prototypes were being tested when I was still in training and by 2034 they were being mass produced for home use. Housekeeping, secretarial work, stuff like that. They got more nuanced over time, more complicated and more buggy 'til..." He put his fingers to his temple like a gun, thumb coming down like the hammer. His hand fell away and he finally swore quietly as his pockets came up empty. Where the fuck had his quarter gone?

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Wow that's...something else." Jake shook his head. "They always make movies about robots or androids or whatever taking over and enslaving humanity but...it's just a bunch of shit for Hollywood. I feel like the closer to human something becomes the more miserable it is."

Jake being deep? Look he has had a lot of time in the woods to just be by himself with his own thoughts and the animals around him. There was a lot of self reflection and introspection.

"I guess in some ways this place isn't so bad...if you don't count the being hunted and killed from time to time. It's quiet at least...and you don't have to worry about bills or money...or family expectations."

[sentbydpd]

"Yeah it was less of an enslaving humanity thing and more, they were realizing that they were being badly abused and started telling people to cut that shit out, and it turns out humans still don't like being told what to do with what they perceive as property. Go figure, right?" Deadpan, sarcastic. His fingers fidget idly with lint plucked from the hem of his shirt when he couldn't find his coin.

While Connor himself could admit to moments of deep introspection and existential quandary, currently he's just exhausted and irritable and not looking forward to whatever is coming next.

"I miss my dog already."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Yikes, yeah that sounds about right." Jake sighed, his own hands starting to fiddle with the little carving he had been working on in the rough shape of a bird maybe? Seeing the way Connor was fidgeting sort of made Jake smile, there were a few people around who had nervous habits like that. He was constantly catching Dwight bite at his names, Felix fussing with his sleeves, even caught Nea drumming on her legs with a random stick she would find. Stopping his own fidgeting he looked over at his shelf of little finds and plucked up stone that had been worn down in just the right way.

Clearing his throat he tossed it to the other carefully before going back to his own carving again.

"A dog huh? What kind?"

[sentbydpd]

The clearing of Jake's throat drew his attention in time for Connor to catch the stone, the round, flat shape of it fitting easily between his fingers. The smallest quirk of lips softened his face considerably as he started to roll the stone across his knuckles, back and forth with fluid ease. The question of his dog made him relax just that little bit more.

"Samoyed. I got him when he was still so little he was just a fluffy white triangle with black spots for a face so the name on his certificate's Musubi. We call 'im Riceball though. Same snack, different filling."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Riceball, heh, that's cute." Jake chuckled as he watched the stone move in the other mans hands. "Dexterous, good. You're gonna need that when you're working on gens. Damn things can be really finicky."

Holding up the figure he was carving, definitely a bird of some kind now, he blew off some of the shavings while examining it closer.

"Never had a dog growing up, dad was pretty strict and always liked the house as clean as possible. Dogs make a mess." He shrugged as he went back, adding smaller details with the very edge of the sharpened stone. "But I had a lot more contact with animals after I went off on my own. Animals are way better than people in my opinion."

[sentbydpd]

If he'd had his phone available he might have held it out to show his dog off, as all good pet owners must.

"You're probably gonna have to walk me through that initially. My brother's the technical one out of us."

A worrying thought, the idea that his brother was probably having to deal with a lot of heavy shit alone right now. He wondered if he'd actually died and now his brothers and sisters were having to deal with that. They're all plenty capable, of course, but emotionally Conrad would be destroyed and he shuddered to think of Curt being the one to take care of his arrangements, even while he knew the guy was a consummate professional when it came to funeral service.

"mm," he replied distractedly at the idea of animals being preferable to people. Jake wasn't wrong, that's for sure. "We're pretty diligent about picking up after him but yeah, he's a loud, high energy ball of fluff. Lots of grooming."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"No worries, I've been doing it for a few years now so I can show you the ropes if we get into one together. If not don't hesitate to ask one of the others, someone's bound to help you." Smiling as he shaved another bit off, forming a difference between the round body and the tucked in wing before going about making cursory lines for flight feathers.

"Dad was the type who was like...we had maids and shit...place was like the cover of some magazine. Complete with the perfect little family who was successful and never did anything wrong." He rolled his eyes. "Too bad for him I guess, bet he's eating up the press with me missing now though."

There's a bitter tone at the end but he finally does look back at Connor, smiling at the idea of a ball of fluff running around.

"Man that sounds so cute, I wish I had a dog...best I got here are some crows that like to bring me things."

[sentbydpd]

Connor continued to flip the stone idly between his fingers, listening as Jake talked. To him it sounded like something that the other guy had been sitting on for some time, not really talking much about his life before now. So Connor just nodded vaguely, encouraging him silently to go on. The mention of the crows gets a soft, vague smile, tilted on one side and barely there.

"I get the impression that animals aren't really a thing here besides your crows. I didn't hear anything out there in the woods when I had to walk here besides occasional crows and some insects. If this isn't the real world it makes sense the wildlife is limited."

He finally let himself relax, stripping off the outer layer of his button-up and hanging it off the corner of the bed then kicking off his shoes and laying back with his hands atop his stomach.

"At least everyone here that I've seen seems willing to cooperate with eachother. Guess I'll see if that extends to these 'trials' too."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Yeah them, the rats, and some bugs...that's really it." Jake shrugged, setting his carving aside he moved to the lamps to turn them off. "I thijnk I'm gonna tuck in for the 'night'. We may not need to sleep but really...it's nice to sometimes."

Plopping down on his bed he opened the window next to it and turned to grab a small handful of what looked likes seeds in the darkness, setting them there before laying out on his own bed. "If I don't see ya before your first match, good luck."

Rolling over he let his eyes close and focused on the sounds outside the window. The birds and the bugs, the wind moving the branches, and Kate's quiet music playing by the fire.

--

When Jake felt the call it was more of a burden and annoyance than anything else. Called to the fire along with three others, and one just happened to be the new guy.

"Hey! Connor! Looks like I'll get to show you the ropes after all." He grinned, clapping the other on the shoulder before looking at the others, surprised to see Yun-Jin and Ace sitting around the fire as well. Reaching into a pocket he pulled out a bundle of pinkish violet flowers. Tossing them into the fire they release a strong floral scent.

"We have a few offerings that we can get, things that we place in the fire for various outcomes. Better luck with things, specific arenas, that sort of thing." He explained when he was sure to get a look from the new guy.

[sentbydpd]

Connor slept restlessly in the new environment with unfamiliar sounds all around. He was accustomed to the city, not wilderness. Traffic and muffled voices, not insect chirps and wind through leaves. He'd get accustomed to it in time he was sure, but for now, he would suffer through it.

When the call came, he couldn't say he was surprised. The thing that had called them, the Entity, it would want to test his mettle before giving him the chance to collect anything to augment his ability. He needed to learn what he was doing before getting fancy with it.

He stared at Jake when the man almost jovially approached him, giving him that clap on the shoulder in passing then explaining the flowers. He nodded; it sounded about right, the ritualistic nature of the offerings in a place that defied scientific explanation or logic. Connor nodded and looked around at the other two, nodding to each of them and getting a brief amusement from the finger-guns shot at him by the gangly older man in his ridiculous shades, hat, and a shirt that Connor could readily admit he wanted. He was somewhat bolstered by the confidence of the two men, and he hoped that Yun-Jin wouldn't be as much of a problem as he'd been warned about.

When the Fog started to creep in, he followed the three of them into it, only to emerge once more after a few minutes' travel in utter darkness into a forest that gently pissed rain down on their heads. He glanced around at the architecture and frowned. Unfamiliar to him from the outside, but maybe he could suss out the detail if he explored. He got the impression that it would be a terrible idea to call out for one of the others' attention, and so just eased himself up against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed to simply listen.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Creeping along the grass Jake tried to keep himself as quiet and as low as possible. Seeing Connor he made his way over tapping the other on the leg before raising a hand to quiet anything that he might say.

Motioning for the other to follow him, Jake made his way towards a gen. When the lights were in sight, flickering in and out like they did, he motioned up to them. A way to see where gens were without searching like a chicken with their head cut off. Making his way over he flipped down one of the panels and started pulling out wires. Looking over his shoulder to make sure Connor was looking he motioned to the small diagram on the inside and then to the wires.

"Just be careful and if it backfires, stay alert. I mean stay alert all ways but you get it. If it blows it'll give away our position and whoever it is might come here." He spoke quietly as he stood and motioned for Connor to take his place before he moved to what he considered one of the more complicated jobs on the side.

[sentbydpd]

Connor's eyes popped open at the touch at his leg, lips barely parting before he was preemptively silenced by the gesture. He nodded at Jake's gestures and followed along, keeping himself low and giving their surroundings a somewhat paranoid look.

The generator looks so much older than anything that he'd seen in his life. Detroit in his time certainly had its disparity of aesthetics, from the old houses that were yet to be torn down to the sleek metal and glass that made up the city center, to the huge, pricey houses belonging to the well-to-do. This thing was a relic of decades past. God he wished his brother was here.

Rather than responding, Connor just listened and watched intently, then crouched down in Jake's place and read over the instruction panel first, before reaching into the machine and drawing the wiring out into clearer view. The dim lighting here made this all the more difficult, and Connor licked his lips fitfully as he started to strip back the insulation around the wires to try and make them fire appropriately before twisting them together to maintain the circuit. The panel at least was helpful in letting him figure what wires wouldn't cross to make the thing backfire, and he actually seemed to get the hang of it fairly quickly. The machine was already chugging along with half its pistons going when he heard the echoing song in the distance. He put down the wires to keep himself from fucking it up as he stared out across the misty landscape.

"What the hell is that?"

[calmspiritsaboteur]

"Shit shit shit....of course it's her." Jake sighed as he moved to reach into the generator to grab something and twist it just right, glad when he didn't get a face full of sparks. Looking up over the contraption as he worked Jake squinted for a moment before completely removing himself from his work. Seeing sparks fly for a moment he cursed under his breath.

"Fucking bastards teaching each other this shit...." He seemed to go back to work almost immiediately as well as speaking to the other in hurried but low voice.

"Alright so she's known as The Huntress. She's like seven foot tall and throws hatchets. If we're hearing her singing then she's close but when you start hearing your heartbeat in your ears...that's when you know she's close. Don't run unless you have to, it leaves a weird trace that they can follow. If you can break line of sight and hide that's your best bet. There are lockers but....she checks them a lot because that is also where her hatchets are."

He finally takes a breath, narrowly misfiring with a wire as he looked up at Connor again. "Just...don't let her see you and...be mindful of falling hatchets I guess?"

[sentbydpd]

The look on Connor's face as Jake explained that they were being tracked by someone literally titled The Huntress said it all. Intrigue overshadowed by horror, coupled with the idea that they could at any moment be blindsided by a flying hatchet, had him all the more intensely on alert. He glanced briefly around them for anything that might help them out, then blinked and held up a hand before creeping away with his head below the tops of the foliage all around. He could see a little...sculpture? Something that looked like a child's craft project, if not for the inclusion of human skulls. The tealights beneath it weren't lit, and he imagined they would be difficult to keep lit in the rain.

He had to investigate. It was in his nature. It was his purpose. It had him creeping out toward the thing and his weight shifting so that he was down on one knee, looking at the totem with his hands hovering around it as it trying to discern what it was, and whether it should be left alone or not. He didn't notice the lullaby growing louder until it had gotten to the point that he realized exactly what Jake had meant by the heartbeat in his ears. Because the closer the singing grew, the quicker his pulse grew, and he looked up at the same moment that a hatchet was raised.

"Fuck," he barked before scrambling to his feet and sprinting off in a direction that was nowhere near Jake.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Watching Connor move to examine the totem had Jake sort of smiling. He forgot to mention those, of course as soon as he went to open his mouth and say something he heard the familiar thrumming of his own heart in his ears and was forced to silence himself in favor of letting go of the gen and backing away into a hiding spot. Silently cursing he heard the woman's familiar "huh!" as she raised her hatchet and tossed mixed with Connor's curse and the sound of shoes hitting grass.

Peeking around the corner to make sure that the hulking giant of a woman had in fact chased the new comer, Jake returned to his gen.

He really hoped someone would take care of that damn hex soon...he hated when he couldn't get off a gen to save someone without the damn thing breaking down from just sitting there.

"You got this Jake, stick it and then you can go save the new guy. Just. Focus." Breathing he went back to work, ignoring the pained cries he was bound to hear.

[sentbydpd]

Connor's shoes didn't grip the grass the way he was used to when it came to trying to run down suspects. He slipped and slid, struggled to gain traction, and then he was finally off. He was tall, but able to keep a relatively low profile, and a hatchet sailed past his head close enough that he could hear the schwing! of metal before the head of it buried into a tree ahead of him. He skidded into a turn toward a shack stationed near an enormous wall of stone and wood that would be impossible to scale without fully exposing his back to the masked woman.

Connor could sprint and gain the advantage easily, if he could just break line of sight here. The little building was ideal for it, if he could only loop around it and disappear through the window that he'd spotted on one side. His foot collided with the sill on his way through it, alerting the woman to the direction he was running, and while he had gained a good amount of ground, he just couldn't be that lucky for long. He heard a generator go off far in the distance, a backfire that meant very little to him in the moment, and then a grisly thwack and searing pain just shy of his shoulderblade brought him crashing back into the moment.

His scream was truncated and hoarse as he stumbled, but maintained his momentum around a tight corner and managed to softball slide to a stop behind a peculiar free-standing wall that might have been part of an in-progress home, once. He could feel the rivulets of blood dripping from the ragged wound in his back, and his breath wheezed out of him as he waited for the Huntress to approach.

But the heartbeat stayed steady, and Connor's hands clamped over his mouth to keep the sounds down the longer it was there. He couldn't have...

The sound receded as, somewhere behind him, a sound like thunder rolled through the would-be arena. He stayed still until the pulsing in his ears started to die down, and then the sound of that repeating melody faded into echoes once more. She was just playing with him, surely. Drawing him into a false sense of security. He sat with his back against the rock for a long moment, his breath wheezing out of him at the radiating pain, until movement beside him made him start to scramble away again.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Holding up his hands Jake moved closer.

"Easy buddy, just me. Looks like she's pissed at Ms. Lee for taking out that totem." He waved Connor over towards a more covered area with trees and bushes. "Come here, let me take a look at that shoulder."

[sentbydpd]

Connor froze, grasping the side of the rock to keep himself on his feet. He could hear the scrambling of feet and the crashing of undergrowth in the distance, that song intensifying then dying down again. He dropped his profile low again and moved to Jake's side as quickly as he could manage. His hands shook as he removed his outer shirt carefully, then used his good arm to pull the thin black t-shirt up from the wound.

The skin glistened blue, and just under his skin rested a peculiar mesh of silicon, metal, and wire.

"B'fore you freak out, I'm not an android," he muttered. "Got into an accident, got a lot of work done. It'll heal over like the real thing eventually."

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Blinking at the blue fluid that dripped from the bizarre wound Jake frowned before setting about getting it stabilized and bandaged up.

"Hey man I don't care what you are so long as you're on our side, okay?" His hands are steady as he tries his best but this stuff is different than the blood he's used to and instead of familiar muscle and bone it's silicone and metal. His hand slips and he knows it's bad as more of the blue fluid gushes over his hands.

"Shit! Sorry man! Fuck..."

[sentbydpd]

Jake slips in such a way that Connor suddenly doubles over, screaming raggedly before he can clamp his hands over his mouth. He pants and stays there, curled on himself as the blue blood pastes his shirt to his body.

"Fuck! Fucking jesus dicks, just- here, listen-" He snatches the med kit from Jake and unravels a length of bandage that he hastily presses into Jake's hands, then turns back around. "Press it there, staunch the bleeding-" and then he starts to walk Jake through the process of patching him up, at least temporarily. He doesn't like how long this is taking, with the two of them tucked behind this rock trying desperately to pretend that he hadn't just absolutely blown their cover here.

[calmspiritsaboteur]

Taking the supplies and listening to Connor, the survivalist tries to steady his hands. But it's been a while since he's heard that lullaby, it's been even longer since he's been with someone for their first encounter in a trial. And add to all that this guy with literally blue blood? To say he was shook was an understatement. The growing clarity of said lullaby and the way his heart thrums in his ears he knows what's coming.

He knows what he has to do.

"Fuck it, sorry I gotta lead her away. Take this and patch yourself up. If you need help look for Ace." Without a second thought he dodges out from the bushes and charges in the large woman's direction with a yell as he's met with an hatchet to his shoulder. Using a little trick he had learned from David to barrel through her as he held his injured side and thanked whatever deity was listening for Jocks. Unless it's the Entity...then fuck that deity in particular. All he had to do now was keep her attention and get her away from Connor. Luckily being injured made him a better target.

[sentbydpd]

When Jake had gone left, Connor had gone right, and he'd looked back in time to see the man pull a bewildering maneuver that he himself could recall having done in the past, tanking hits and just continuing forward on his mission. What throws him, though, is Jake seemingly fucking no-clipping through the killer with a mad dash that seems to take her off-guard for an instant. Just long enough for Connor to get some distance, and start on a wide search for the older man that he had yet to see at all within the trial.

He skids between the trees and manages to regain purchase rounding it, but he's still so unused to trying to maneuver in this kind of environment that he has to slow down and actually look for a place to go.

Another generator catches his eye, and Connor slinks behind it, figuring he could fight through the pain and wait to see Ace at some point. He could trust Jake to keep their killer busy for a little while, he's sure.