I have had several requests OOCly as to why Deanna is afraid of drones and how she ended up in Havohej's care. Forgive grammar - I did this quickly many years ago. If there is enough interest I can flesh out more detail of the before and after events. Somewhere lost in the internet of time is the same story written from Havohej's perspective. Enjoy!
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The taller Vherkior man cradled the young girl’s hand as she skipped along happily. They went hand and hand toward the kitchen to get dinner for her mother, who had just given birth to her new little sister. Her brother wanted to stay behind, which afforded the girl a few cherished moments to herself with her father.
Work in the mining colony had always been hard – but today the whole family had been given the day off to celebrate the birth of the little one, everyone in this wing excitedly stopping the pair from time to time to confirm the babe was indeed a girl and healthy.
The lights above then flickered and sparked, turning off for a moment, then back on as people looked about in confusion before the red warning sirens blared. Muffled screams could be heard and the sound of metal clicking on metal in the distance. Without hardly a pause, the man grabbed the girl in his arms, running for the kitchen.
“Daddy… daddy… what’s going on… why are people yelling?”
He didn’t answer her right then, instead opening one of the latches to the air ventilation in the kitchen and tossing the frightened girl in, “Stay hidden – don’t come out until they are gone, you understand me?”
She nodded, looking confused and scared as the grate was loosely replaced, concealing the child from easy view, “Don’t talk or make a sound.”
The metal skittering became louder, an overwhelming smell of burnt flesh and blood filling the room as he ran out of the room, grabbing a can of food from the counter as he rounded the corner, slamming and barring the kitchen door behind him.
The metal skittering was near now, there was a loud bang of whatever it was against the door followed by a yell, “Over here you dumb drone! Get away from there!” The thing fell for it and went skittering after the offending voice. There was a muffled yelp, the sound of something wet falling to the floor with a dull thud.
Then the lights went out . The creature broke open the door, the tapping of it’s metal feet on the floor echoing in the empty hall as a small red beam scanned the room as the creature seemed to ignore the girl, clearly more interested in tearing apart the motor in the fridge.
Then there was silence, black, sticky silence. The feeling of being trapped, the steel walls of the ventilation shaft seemed to close in around her. Hours went by – only occasionally did the sound of metal or a faint distant scream could be heard, or perhaps it was her imagination. She slept at some point, but when she awoke, the sticky black silence was still there.
Finally she carefully snuck out of the shaft, landing lightly onto the kitchen floor and felt her way along the floor to the cupboard. She reached around feeling her way around the darkness and found a stack of bags in a familiar place. Smirking to herself she knew she had found the jerky – a rare treat normally only given to the workers doing a long shift to snack on if their work would keep them from joining the group for lunch. Recognizing where she was from there she felt her way to the cutlery drawer, fetching a small knife to open the bag and hide back in her shaft, replacing it behind her.
Over the next span of time – days perhaps – she kept this up, hiding in the shaft and sneaking out to get food. She knew someone had to come… daddy had run away to get mommy and everyone flew away from the metal things… they would surely come back for her… wouldn’t they?
The lights didn’t come back on. More time passed – no one was coming. She promised she would stay hidden until the metal things were gone… but they were gone. And no one came looking. The cold of her hiding place, the walls tight in around her began to make her feel short of breath, almost panicked – daddy would forgive her if she stayed hidden in the kitchen right? She crawled her way to the door, carefully and quietly swinging the door shut again.
So she made her “home” in this kitchen, curling up atop the counter, swinging her legs, grateful to be out of her box as she cradled her jerky in her hand.
There was a thump sound, not metal- they sounded more like footsteps. She shook her head, as it was clearly her imagination – afterall, no one was coming. The door opened, a faint light blue light shining in the room of the headpiece of some tall figure, holding something – perhaps a gun – in his hands. She looked up at the pale face before her, her gray eyes regarding him with a touch of disbelief as the man holstered the gun and approached her without a word, moving slowly and carefully.
He looked her over as he reached up and picked up her small paring knife in his hand. His eyes seemed to study the small girl as he spoke, “What’s your name, girl?”
The girl wasn’t sure if this was real or not, but she met the gaze of the man before her. Seeing no reason to lie to the man she answered back confidently, “Deanna.”
He seemed content with this and in the dim light of the flashlight she saw him extend a hand, motioning for her to go with him as he spoke, not to her, but someone else, “I found her – meet back in the shaft and prepare the ship for boarding.” His voice had a calm, resolved demeanor to it as he spoke.
Deanna regarded him for a moment then hopped down from her counter, setting her tiny hand in his as they went.
“Keep your eyes down – don’t look around, understand?” He warned Deanna. In hind sight he was trying to protect her from the gruesome view. She stumbled over something for a moment, something hitting her toe as her torn shoes seemed sticky on the floors. The man glanced down, his light showing what she had stumbled over.
A tin can, dented almost in half, the floor around covered in a deep rust red. The sticky smell was blood.
They weren't coming for her - they were all dead.
Rogue drones had torn the station apart, reports later showed that she had been the only survivor of the attack.
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Topic: Origins: Defias Taskmaster (Read 812 times)