Future-Shock: The world to the waves (Nu and The Grey)

A young man, a thief. What could his part in this world possibly be? What pulled him to this time period? Why was he one of the few selected? The same could be asked of a young girl, or rather a young and artificial girl, whose name was perfectly fitting of her experience to this change of scenery around her. Lightning fell down upon the grey soil, surrounded by ashen and dehydrated grass. The brilliant lights revealed to have transported the two selected champions next to one and other, divided by only a short three foot gap. These champions, Cory Jardin and Nu were placed within the western hemisphere; The America's.

The scenery around them was dead, to be put quite simply. The world around them seemed to have been hit by some form of blight, or drought perhaps. The rain from the storm seemed to be the only rain this land had seen in years. Trees with cracked off bark and dark specks; grass so dehydrated and dead it would occasionally crumble to flakes by simply brushing upon it. This land had been dead for so long, one could simply tell by the lack of color and the cracking of the soil beneath them. The dark black and greys of the storm overhead only adding to the bleak and colorless world become seeming to recede in and upon itself, eventually fading away and revealing a bland, grey, cloud-filled sky. No more rain. No trace of Lightning. Just broken earth with the feel of clay and stone...and them.

The smell of dust and dirt surrounded them, the wind that blew felt like sandpaper to the bare skin, and the lifelessness of the area around them was something to behold.

(Welcome to The Future. Any questions feel free to contact me on Skype (Zell Atterrius. The Fallout Cosplay) or PM me. I can answer whatever questions you may have. I will be posting a world narration after each round. Go ahead and feel free to explore.)

In a flash, Jardin appeared, still dressed in leather and jeans like a biker though his jacket was unadorned.

Passive transit had never truly agreed with Jardin. Often he could not use a taxi or train, a boat or plane, without knocking himself out on dramamine. It was one thing if he was focusing on the driving himself but...

It would seem "lightning teleportation" had much the same affect. Jardin quickly fell to his knees. He struggled with his helmet, desperate to get it off. After a few moments, he was free of it. Then he sprayed vomit onto the earth.

He spent a few seconds centering himself, trying to keep his guts from summersaulting any more. Then he slowly stood, taking in the dead world around him. "Where in the hell...?" He trailed off as he turned to see much the same desolate backdrop on all sides...

Then he found life. A woman stood nearby, one that seemed equally bewildered by their transit. "Um," Jardin began. "...Hello?" He silently kicked himself for sounding like an idiot...

Just as quick as the flash of lightning had whisked her away from that rooftop in Canada, it had transported the young artificial girl to a barren and alien like environment, the like she had never seen before. The whole ordeal left Nu’s head spinning, she stood still for several seconds as the landscape around her slowly stopped spinning. Once she was finally able to focus, she realized she was no longer on the rooftop, but instead she was in some sort of wasteland. The ground beneath her feet, and just about everything around her seemed dead, all except for the only other sign of life, which was a young man in the midst of frantically trying to remove his helmet, just in time for him to vomit on the cold dry earth in front of him.

Nu stared at him with a raised brow, before he turned his gaze from the landscape to her. Naturally Nu’s first instinct was to treat everyone as an enemy until proven otherwise, but after her run in with Alpha, she decided to try and be a bit more open with strangers, and this guy wasn’t giving off any bad vibes at the moment, so responding to him wouldn’t entirely hurt. With that being said, Nu just gave the strange man an awkward smile and wave.

The land around the two seemed hostile despite its current lack of life, the gray skies, the dead trees, and the harsh winds, that were now starting to get on Nu’s nerves, each second the breeze hit her, felt like a bunch of little bug bites, and it got on the young girls nerves, so much so, that she let out a silent pout before erecting a light pink bubble around her and the man. The telekinetic bubble would keep the wind out, and allow the two to become better acquainted, or at least survey the landscape unhindered.

After raising the barrier, Nu knelt down to inspect the crunchy grass beneath her feet, which disintegrated the very second she placed her hand on a small patch of it. None of what was going on made sense to the girl, so she turned to the man for answers. She pointed to him, then the ground, hoping that that was enough for him to understand that she was asking if he knew anything about the landscape they found themselves in.

When the young woman silently greeted him, one word came to mind for Jardin.  Adorable.

He was thankful for the girl's barrier.  Though disinclined to voice his discomfort, the biting wind stung.  Jardin softly gave voice to his gratitude.

The girl made a gesture, pointing at Jardin then the blasted earth...And by her expression she wanted answers.  It took a moment to realize that she was dumb.  Still, it was pretty clear what she was asking: it was the only question worth asking.  "Where are we?"

Jardin crouched, studying the dead grass.  Truth was, he was no botanist.  He knew nothing of plant life.  And with grey clouds blotting out the sky, classic navigation was a bitch.  "Honestly," he said, fixing the woman with a sober look.  "I just don't know."

Jardin stood up again.  He surveyed the desert landscape once more.  "I think we just need to get moving and hope we find something."  Glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "Any preference?"  He smirked slightly

When the mysterious man Nu was paired up with, had deciphered her crude if not primitive form of communication, it shined a small light on an otherwise bleak situation. If anything it at least showed that Nu would be able to at least attempt to communicate with the individual. She let out an inaudible sigh as her question was met with an answer she didn’t want to here. If the stranger didn’t know where on earth they were, then they were truly lost because the young artificial girl had no idea either.

She rose up from her crouched position, letting the handful of grass she had grasped, disintegrate in her palm. She stroked her chin a bit, trying to think of a solution to their conundrum, when an idea struck her as hard as the bolt of lightning that transported her to this barren wasteland. There was always one constant that Nu could rely on in her turbulent life, and that was the world mind, it was always there to guide her when she needed it the most.

Nu surveyed the land around them, it all seemed the same, no matter what direction she looked in, so to that end she attempted to reach out to the world mind for assistance. She wandered over to the edge of her bubble and placed her index fingers on her temples and tried concentrating, but nothing, not even static, it’s not like she was expecting it, but the fact that there was nothing but silence worried her. For the second time in her short life she felt abandoned once more, the emotion was almost too much to deal with as her eyes started to well up with tears, but a quick glance over at the man with her, gave her a slight boost in confidence.

Nu wiped the tears from her eyes and gave the environment a good look over, noticing that one direction seemed to have more foliage than the others, it was all still dead, but the presence of the extra trees and brush was a definite sign that something was in that direction. With her mind made up, she moved to the man’s side and pointed to the south east.

With Nu and Grey in agreement to move to the southeast they'd likely be on the road a small ways before seeing a large wall out in the distance. Made of wood, metal and even tires and wire. Anything at all that could be thrown together to make a wall was placed up, encasing something within it's boundaries. Whatever was behind it was not exactly as interesting as what they probably say in front of it. That being a 2021 Toyota being launched through the air and landing on the ground, glass breaking and flying out all over the place. The sudden dropping of the car came from a trajectory over a wall, and what sounded like gun fire could be heard faintly in the distance, just beyond the well.

In a high arc, the car flew.  Whatever had thrown it must have been very strong...

As the pair drew closer, Jardin began to study the car.  It was a rusted out heap, all four wheels missing.  Other things had been removed as well...

"Shotgun!" he proclaimed, pulling the passenger door open.  It creaked loudly before the hinges disintegrated and the door tore free, wrenching itself from his grip.  "Oops," he joked, glacing at the mute meta.

Jardin took a seat within.  "Vehicle looks like a current model..." he mused aloud.  Glancing back at the mute girl, he added.  "Based on the rust, though, its been here for...centuries..."

Popping open the glove compartment, Jardin rifled through the detritus that remained, looking for any clues. Perhaps there was a laminated registration card. Considering the steering column was on the left side...what was left of the steering column, anyway...he knew what countries they could not be in. But aside from that he still needed answers...for the mute girl as well.

Nu and the stranger marched ever onward and the barren surroundings didn’t seem to change much, save for a large wall in the distance that appeared to be made of randomly assorted and stacked junk. As the two drew closer to the wall, a large object was catapulted over the tall wall in their direction, which prompted Nu to stop in her tracks as the rusted chaises of a vehicle crashed into the ground a few feet from them, glass and small chucks of metal dislodged from the impact, bounced off the light pink bubble that Nu had kept around her and her traveling companion.

The man approached the decrepit vehicle, which prompted Nu to stick near him in order to keep her telekinetic field covering the two of them. With a light tug, the door had popped right off the hinges, which prompted a quick exclamation from the man, and a silent chuckle from Nu. The two investigated the car in their own ways, the man rummaged through the interior of the car, and Nu wandered around the outside of it, examining the fossil that lay before them. It was strange, the body style of the care seemed relatively modern, but the wear and tear made it seem almost ancient.

As Nu circled back around to the passenger seat, she pulled out her phone and began to type in a message. Eventually she made her way back to the man’s side and showed the screen to him |-Find anything?-|

No sooner had she asked if they had found anything a huge black colored object seemed to inflate from within the glove compartment, even reaching out and grabbing onto The Greys head, though seemingly nothing about it was dangerous. The second that Grey tried to pull his head away he would hear an overly cartoonish popping noise, as if something had been wiggled free or moved out of place. Form there the black amorphous shape would take form and would reveal itself to be nothing less than what appeared to be a cartoon character in a black shirt with eyes beaming and a smile. First the cartoon character looked to Nu, blinking both eyes before looking back to Grey. Then it looked to Nu, then to Grey, all the while it's arms were wrapped around Grey's shoulders and its legs circled around his waist, as if the cartoon character were trying to keep away from the ground.

  After three times of looking at Nu, the toonish character turned back and his lips literally extended before smacking Grey right on the cheek, the character then letting go of Grey, defying physics and floating off a bit before landing on his feet. Immediately it began to walk away, a little tune to his step as he seemed to dance, his bent arms bouncing up and down as he waggled his entire cartoonish body. Just when it was almost far enough away a little light bulb could be seen over it's head and it's legs began spinning in place, producing a dust cloud before the character reappeared next to them, an exclamation point above it's head. Immediately it tried to take Nu and Grey's hands before sticking out it's tongue, which proceeded to turn into tiny hand with a finger pointing in the direction it wished to take them.

When the...thing erupted from the compartment, Jardin jerked back in his ruined seat.  He sat rigid as the thing attached itself to him.

Jardin was at a loss, as this was by far the oddest thing he had ever encountered.  The meta would glance at Nu in time with the thing though he was not sure why.  Again, he would not react as the thing kissed him and began to leave.

Jardin slid from the car, sidling up beside the Mute.  He read the question still on her phone.  A valid question in other circumstances.  Looking after the perplexing toon, Jardin said,"I found I aught to ask important questions before opening things.  For example: 'What's in the box?!'"  He had closed with his best Brad Pitt impression.  It was...unimpressive.

As Jardin turned to leave he felt the cartoon grasp his hand.  The thing's bizarre tongue began to point the pair in a direction. Glancing to the mute, he said, "I know, 'famous last words' and all, but..." He shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "It could lead to some useful answers."

Nu jumped when black goo erupted from the cars glove box and attached itself to the man’s face. Instinctually Nu wanted to use her powers to grab the goo and fling it halfway across the wasteland, but Sionas had taught her restraint, and as such, she held back the urge to act rashly. The goo quickly formed into a goofy looking cartoon creature that continued to stay latched on to Nu’s traveling companion for a good while, as it simply looked back and forth between Nu and the stranger.

This was definitely the strangest thing Nu had encountered in her short life span, she thought, as the creature planted a kiss on the man’s cheek before floating off a little ways and walking with an all to joyous spring in its step. After walking a short distance, a little light bulb appeared above the things head, before it vanished into a puff of smoke and reappeared in between Jardin and Nu. The little creature attempted to take Nu and her companion by the hand, but Nu quickly retracted her hand, as if the little cartoon had some sort of infectious disease. She even shot it a slight look of disgust as its tongue formed an extra hand as it pointed off into the distance.

Nu then shot a look of slight concern at Jardin when he seemed all too willing to follow this thing to where ever it wanted to take them. Reluctantly Nu agreed to follow, but only out of confusion for the current predicament she found herself in. She was in a strange environment she had never seen before, and the only signs of life where the mysterious man, and this cartoonish creature. With a small wave of her arms, she signaled for the little cartoon being to lead the way, as undiscerning as that might have been.

So the cartoon character proceeded to lead them, seemingly uncaring of anything said or done around him. Instantly his lips pushed out into a tube and he began to whistle as he walked, the little music notes coming out before fading into the air around him. The little cartoonish character slowly began to lead them around the massive wall and into a small broken out segment of it, just big enough for them to fit through. Once they were through the wall they would see what looked to be an entire little town. An old hardware store, a clinic of some kind as well as an operational but badly damaged supermarket. Then there were people all sitting in and around fires in barrels, others peeling fruit. They didn't look unhappy, but they did in fact look poor, very dirty and as if they were all struggling. Of course there seemed to be more coming from the subway tunnel.

The cartoon character pointed to the subway tunnel and then began to dance around a little, going to Nu and cocking his head to the side as he seemed perplexed at why the lady seemed to be so different than others. After simply shrugging he resumed his little dance before falling in line, ready to follow these two through the subway...or wherever they chose to go. Honestly he wasn't the best at giving directions...and he was probably not going to be able to force them to do anything. But regardless...these two weren't going to get this little guy away from them.

Jardin studied the compound and the people within.  With the people's impoverished state, the dirt and grime, he knew there was no way for the relative cleanliness of these two newcomers to avoid standing out in this crowd.  Still, short of actually taking a dust bath, there was nothing for it.  He just hated standing out...

Well, as they say: fortune favors the bold.  Standing from the crouch he had assumed prior, Jardin turned to the Mute.  "Stay behind me," he advised, though it sounded like an order.

The young thief stepped forward, careful to avoid squashing the cartoon.  He wove his way around the crowd, trying to keep his silent companions close.  The subway had been suggested as their target.  So, why not...

Actually, considering there might be signs down there, Jardin realized that the tunnels could tell them where they were.  With a slightly more optimistic outlook, he found the eyes that were no doubt upon them less bothersome...

Nu followed the stranger and the cartoon character at a slow pace, so that she was behind them at all times. She didn’t like the idea of following the little sprite, but she had reluctantly agreed to do so anyway. Eventually the trio came to a small broken section of the junk wall, just barely big enough for her and the man to squeeze through, and once on the other side, Nu sprung to her feet and dusted herself off. Her cat like eyes immediately drawn to the fact that there were actual people residing behind the wall.

Nu continued to soak in the sights before realizing that their strange little companion had been staring at her for quite some time. Her gaze fell to the little creature and raised a brow, wonder what was going through its mind right now, as it looked at her. The people here hadn’t seemed to notice them, at least not yet, instead they all seemed to be keeping to themselves, there was some ambient chatter, but this place was about as lively as a graveyard. Her attention shifted to Jardin who had told her to stay behind him as they moved towards the subway. Initially Nu gave him a somewhat mean stare, but then gave him the thumbs up to lead the way.

As the small party moved through the citizens of this shanty town, Nu’s eyes continued to wander, scanning for any indication of where they might be, but nothing stood out. There were no landmarks and none of the buildings seemed familiar either. There best bet of finding out where they were, lay in the subway, where there were bound to be some sort of signs or directions that could hint at where they were. Nu seemed to stick out as she cautiously followed her companion, since she knew very little about him, she remained on her guard at all times, often looking tense or nervous, she also couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched or followed.

Nu did her best to conceal her phone in her thick jacket as she typed up a message to show Jardin. Eventually she tapped him on the shoulder and showed him the screen |- I think we’re being followed -| it read.

Before the touch had even come, Jardin turned. The girl seemed worried by something...She held out a cellphone. A text gave silent voice to her concerns. It seemed the makeshift trio had a tail.

Jardin scanned about. Everyone seemed to be staring. He expected that. But whoever was following them was hidden in the crowd. So...who was their stalker?

Jardin did not like to be in the open when danger was about. Grasping the silent girl's arm. He realized he needed a better possition, a way to force the the pursuer into view. He headed down into the subway, the mute and the toon both.

At the base of the stairs, Jardin stepped aside. "Keep walking," he whispered. Looking to the peculiar character, he added, "Stay with her. I'll catch up."

Jardin was setting a trap. It would be better to be behind the tail, without the tail knowing. And if she was wrong...well, "better safe than sorry."