Manni

*As Dezrin attempted to communicate with Cassandra, she made no obvious movements and in fact just lay there on the ground. If it wasn't for the occasional shallow breath she allowed herself to have, anyone else would have thought that Cassandra was now dead or in the process of dying. To be fair, she was in a rather bad way physically. She was dehydrated and hungry from not having eaten any food or drunk any fluids for quite some time. How long since she had had anything to eat or drink? It was hard to say given that she no longer bothered to keep track of time. It had been perhaps a few deaths ago on this island, when she still cared about such meagre things. Now, there was nothing to care about, not even about trying to die as death had proved to be no relief. She doubted that she could just disappear and fade out of existence, no matter how appealing she found it and how much she would like to. It seemed that her universe even found that beyond its ability or desire to give her that one thing when she needed it most. But that was just crazy talk. She knew that her universe would never give her that, given that it was now run by a being that benefited from her suffering and that her universe had no will of its own. She would know this, of course, as she made her universe herself. That was ancient history though,far from the relevance of today where she was nothing. Perhaps even worse than nothing, something that should not exist. Still, she knew that it did not matter what she thought about such and such a matter. There was no one that wanted her opinion on anything and even if they did, her opinion was not valuable in and of itself. Since the beginning, she was just an accessory...a fancy adornment to be shown off by her owner. Her own train of thought was interrupted by the feeling of warmth going through her body. Now, she barely registered the fact that Dezrin had earlier put his hand on her back so she had little idea how this warmth was possible or where it was. This warmth was not at all unpleasant but was something that Cassandra was far from used to. She looked around in a panic, trying to figure out what was going on. She could barely move her tired and under-fuelled body but move she tried. She was much too weak to push Dezrin's hand away or move away from him so she simply just stopped. She couldn't really do anything to defend herself and even if she wanted to, it would not change the result of what she thought was going to happen. Not that it mattered in the short, medium or long run, the answer seemed to be the same.*

*Now Cassandra was fully concentrating on running away and didn't notice the thrown peace offering but she did notice the telepathic message she was sent. Unfortunately, it reverberated throughout her head and caused her to freak out even more. So much in fact that she fell over herself and landed front-side down into the dirt. It had been some time since anyone had telepathically communicated with her and all the times she could remember being communicated in such a fashion was when something terrible was about to befall her. Ordinarily, she would scream or flail and try to get away but she was far too tired for that now. Her brain was operating beyond what it could normally take and now she was starting to break down. There was no more tears to cry or gods to try to appeal to, there was nothing she could do. On this island, where she couldn't even die, there was nothing for her. Her life meant nothing and even death was no respite, so did anything really matter anymore? As the rain poured down, the storm closing in, Cassie was aware that there was literally nothing she could do. Her situation was beyond hopeless, beyond even farce. Living would do nothing and death provided no comfort. All she could do was suffer and perhaps that was all that anyone could want or hope to get from her. Even running away didn't seem to mean anything, just delaying an inevitable death or more suffering. Did it matter when her life ended or when the suffering happened if there was no end to it? That question, amongst others, she did not know the answer to. All she knew was that nothing she did really mattered...so why do anything? Perhaps it would be 'better' if she just surrendered to the world and let it do whatever it willed to her. Of course, she knew that 'better' in her case meant less than nothing. She would die...and return to suffer more. Time seemed to move painfully slowly as she just lay there in the dirt, not caring about the rain or anything else. She had heard someone call her name before but she was certain that this was a trap of some sort. After all, no one she cared about and who knew her name still lived. Perhaps she should not answer and just lay here.*

*It was at this point the AI started to explain about the various functions of the Hero OS, from the Shop where one could use the 'Induls' currency to buy upgrades, weapons and new stuff for your Game Images to the fact that the Arm Computer with the Game Image was able to create a localised distortion in space that created a seemingly perfect battlefield. That function seemed like a good idea so that innocents and targets unrelated could remain out of the line of fire. Why on earth these GIs and the Arm Computer could do this the AI did not specify. Perhaps it was too complicated to explain in a short tutorial. Anyway, the Shop sounded rather handy as it seemed these Induls, gained from dispatching foes and doing missions, were key to doing upgrades and specialisations for the Game Images and the Arm Computers. The AI also explained some of the other features of the device, that included upgrades to the GPS system which would allow Soma to find foes, marks and other weird things that could come up, an scanning system that gave users a good indication of enemy strength, abilities and other useful info. It also seemed to be a game in itself. As the AI finished talking, which was comprehensive though sounded like they were reading the textbook to the class...the AI indicated to Soma that they were going to practice a few things dealing with combat.* "Unfortunately, I have no information regarding your combat experience and your ability to fight. If you don't mind, I would like to see a demonstration of your present ability." The AI said as they seemed to move into a defensive posture. "Don't worry, this is merely a sparring match."

You can post if you want. Just don't expect me to be at your beck and call at any point in time. I post when I am able, not to anyone else's time table.

*As Cassandra was making her way to the beach, wondering what she should do now, she noted that the person that was passing her by went to grab her arm. Unfortunately for this person, who was trying to grab the arm of Cassandra, she had no idea what he was saying at all! After all, they came from totally different planets and universes so it was the most likely case that they did not speak the same language. So when this man did try to grab Cassandra's arm, she instantly reacted rather badly and knocked it away. In fact, she screamed in terror as she knocked his arm away. Her body and mind went into overdrive, as she started to run away from this strange person. She didn't exactly care where she would end up as long as she wasn't in the same area as this person. For all she knew, he was trying to rape her and that experience was something she was very familiar with. Though she had never been raped on this island, given that she had never met another person until now, she had been raped before when she was in her home universe and it was not something she wanted to go through again. She put all her effort into putting distance between this person and herself, hoping that she could outrun them or that they wouldn't follow her. If they did follow her, then she felt she was going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Not like anyone would help her or anything, no one ever did. As she ran towards the storm and away from this man, she wondered if there was much point in doing this. After all, even death didn't seem to mean anything here for her. She admitted that it was unusual because when she normally died, she had to go through the whole process of growing up all over again rather than just randomly reappearing at a random spot on this island. Perhaps the 'god' of her universe had new plans for her torment and this was a part of it. That was the only conclusion she could draw at this present time, given that she had no idea where this was. At the moment, even that was immaterial as all she wanted to do was get away. She hoped that this person was not desperate or crazy enough to follow her into the worsening storm, otherwise she was going to have more than just one problem. She thought that not only would she have this person rape her and possibly kill her afterwards but she would now have to deal with this person learning about the fact that death meaning nothing to her and having him enslave her or something worse for all eternity.*

*Cassandra was expecting many questions from Alez about what this place was and what the relationship she had with the being whom made this Domain was. While she wasn't exactly thrilled about answering them, Cassandra knew she would have to answer as best and honestly she could, if she was going to hold the trust of Alez in any sort of fashion. The answer to the first two questions was relatively easy, they lived out the rest of their lives in the village they were headed to with the peace of the world seemingly restored. Though that was what Cassandra herself knew at the time, she now knew that was not true. While those Cassie and the other being did live out their lives peacefully, the world was not at peace...nor could Cassie actually be certain that what she recollected was still the case. The fact was, given her betrayal of the order of the world and the will of 'god', her place in history was no longer certain and a given. Who really knew what 'god' would do, to punish her for her betrayal? She was going to have to explain this to Alez, though it was going to be difficult. It seemed that Alez was like her in the past, earnestly serving a seemingly divine force and order.* "To be honest, I really cannot tell you what she will recollect." Cassandra said softly. "The fact is I...chose to abandon my place in the Divine Plan...and thus lost my place with the 'god' of my universe. I could not, in good conscience, continue to serve them given what I have learnt recently about the truth of the universe I lived." This was going to sound like either the ramblings of an insane person or a heretic. However, it was the truth. "In return, my place in history as the Eternal Hero is no longer and I cannot be sure if anyone will know of what happened." *It seemed that Cassandra was telling Alez that even history and time itself was up to the will of the 'god' of her universe and if they found things inconvenient, even time and history could be changed to suit.* "Given my betrayal, there's no guarantee that the happy ending I had with her ever happened. I guess that is the price paid of my universe being solely based of the will of a single 'god', that everything else is...dependent on that single fact."

*Now David was literally in a bit of a compromising position, so he thought with Alvina. He felt really bad that Alvina had to see all that though really, he felt he couldn't quite help falling over. That was beside the point though...now how the hell was he supposed to explain this if his boss walked in on him?! This situation would look totally suspect and possibly get him fired immediately...even if he had just been hired. That was something he really didn't want to happen but what could he really do now? He wasn't sure he could really move at the moment, given his embarrassment and certainly, he couldn't say anything. There really wasn't much he could do in this situation at least in his opinion to make this situation better...which made him feel terrible. "Ah! Umm...geez! Sorry, I fell over!" David somehow managed to get out, completely flustered.

*Cassandra awoke in a cold sweat, on the forest floor, quite a distance away from where she last remembered being. Oh yes, she remembered being there quite well. Why? That would be because she could still remember being torn apart by some giant beast...that she intentionally provoked to attack her. While she could describe the beast in some detail, that really didn't matter to her. What mattered to her was that she was still here, on this island. Despite dying. Why would she do something like that? Didn't she want to live? Unfortunately the answer to that question was no, she didn't want to live. She especially didn't want to be here, a place that didn't seem to want her to leave. She had lost count of the amount of times she had tried to die on the island in order to escape it. The evidence of her previous and many failed attempts at escape via suicide were littered liberally around the island, almost like signposts. She bit her lip, as she forced herself to her feet of her new body...which looked exactly like her other bodies on this island. Of course, this body was in one piece, undamaged and in relatively fine condition unlike some of the other ones. She had no idea how long she had been lying on the ground for nor how long she had been stuck on this island for, it felt like an eternity. As she forced herself up onto her feet, she noticed that her body felt sluggish and heavy...most likely because she was rather hungry. She hadn't eaten for some time now, perhaps a few days and it was starting to take its toll on her. Cassandra wasn't interested in eating though or even drinking though it was necessary for her to survive. Obviously, given this, she was not interested in survival. She was more interested in dying, no matter what fashion she did it in. She pushed through the hunger, forcing herself to her feet and then willed her body to start moving. Where? She didn't know or care. She just wanted to get away from here. She could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance and could smell the scent of rain in the air. There was a storm coming. Not that she cared much about getting wet. Her body, as vulnerable and naked as it was, was still in reasonable condition despite her not having had any food or drink lately. As long as she could get from A to B and do stuff, she didn't care what she looked like. Just being aware of her body being there was enough to annoy her. Not knowing where to go or what to do, she decided to just head to the beach and watch the storm from there. Did it matter if she got wet? No nor did she care if she got sick, it wasn't going to change anything. Even if she did get sick and die from it...there was no freedom from here. She pushed her sluggish body towards the beach, not caring what happened to her. As she walked towards the beach, someone past her by who was fully dressed and did not seem to belong here. She totally ignored them as she continued towards the beach for no reason whatsoever.*

Should really pin this or something:

Zero guns.

Catty Schoolgirls.

Granted but the instruments you can play are only expensive medical equipment that you stole from the hospital. I wish I could play a musical instrument.

Dirty Lingerie.

Granted but the only ingredient they want to cook involves cutting you open. I wish for more people to participate in my Music Club. LOL.

THIS IS MY FINAL ATTACK!

Steel Maiden.

Granted! But it's a car of my choice! I wish for a set of Focal Utopias.

IRON STOMACH!

I'm not recommending anyone buy the Sennheiser HE1 but the reaction is interesting.

Empty Stomach

Now exploring Chi-Fi with the Topping DX7 Pro DAC and possesses a Audeze LCD4!

*Doesn't pay debt and yet manages to block your Tiger Drop before beating you down with a leek*

Granted. You are a cyborg...in a live action TV show. I wish for more headphones.

WHY DIDN'T I LEVEL UP?! WHY?!

Granted, those fire giants are well hung and ready for a three-some...but not with you. I wish for new speakers.