_Essex_

"Well..." Essex mused thoughtfully, "Maybe let's just tell each other a little bit more about ourselves? We'll all be living here together for a little while after all."

Taking the initiative, she looked around. There were only a handful of people she didn't know.

"Um...Well, for one thing, my hobbies include music and baking. I'm not very good at cooking because I can't taste savory things - only sweet things, and you have to taste test things in cooking a lot to make sure they come out okay. Baking I can manage better because it's all mathematical measures and precise times."

"I gotta admit..." Rosalind said, returning with an armful of steaks and a wildly wagging tail, "She does make [censored] awesome cookies."

Turning to Acid and handing off the steaks, Rosie's eyes sparkled.

"You should have seen the FRIDGE! It was all full of stuff and like by full I mean FULL and there was a WHOLE SHELF of meat and I am gonna gain so much weight if I don't have someone to scrap with this whole time!!"

Glancing around at the others, she shrugged. "We talking hobbies? Uh...I like to draw. And someday I wanna be a rock star. I'm trying to start a band, 'cause my voice is pretty good, but I guess I just haven't had the time to practice."

Heading back to the refrigerator for some steak sauce, she paused at the sight of Kairaishi half in the fridge.

"...<_< Yo, Oni dude, you wanna pass me the A-1?"

By the way, Mechagogue...

Dancing Mad, as played by the Black Mages.

Because I said I'd deliver. XD

DAMMIT!

You're right.

See? I can't escape my own conventions!

LOL.

I had a roommate like that Freshman year of college. I hated her. Daddy was an executive and bought her everything and she was horribly mean to the little nerdlet who was always quietly typing away in the corner.

Her parents were GODS. They sent her a package and sent me chocolate-covered espresso beans (which she promptly ate) and some gourmet cocoa, and would write letters to her mentioning that I was "such a sweet girl." Whenever they came, they'd take us out to dinner and talk with me for hours about things.

>_>

And ROSALIND had parents! ...Of course, they were herd dogs that died of old age about 180 years ago, but ...

TRIVIA ABOUT ...uh...

*tries frantically to think of a character she hasn't blabbered every secret to the world about*

Oh!

A bit of trivia about all my characters. I mentioned before that my relationship with my brother is really important to me and that I'm fairly small, physically.

All throughout my life, IRL, I've always been the little one. I've always had groups of friends that were boys, that all looked upon me as a sort of 'little sister.' In fact, my best friend still calls me Sissy Nat. ((Nat's my nickname. XP))

If you'll notice, all of my characters - ALL of them - have this structure in place in some way.

Essex has her brothers and sisters of Repliforce Paragon - where she is the smallest and relies on them heavily.

Rosalind has her tight group of friends in Ghoul, Allen, and Kreigg - her boys. Toy and Acid, along with some others, form sort of an extended version of this. Again, though she's an unmistakeable fireball, she's the small one who generally relies on the others.

Nena is the youngest child of seven. All older brothers.

Vanessa has her bots, who she relies on and mothers with everything she has.

Most of my characters have a close relationship with someone in the sibling vein: Na-li and Wei-li, Pariku has a younger brother, Leeni and Ushlax (Yes, he really did just forget her on Earth. XD)...etc, etc.

I guess the only character I have that doesn't have that kind of support structure is Zealstorm. O_o No wonder she's so evil.

Eh, come on now. I LIKED SEPHIROTH. He's not nearly as bad as Kefka and doesn't deserve all the attention he gets, but you know what?

He's a DRAMA HO.

And I respect that.

My favorite villain is Lumine from Megaman X8.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Lu~mi~ne~! ^_____^ There's just something about going through level after level of adrenalin-busting sidescroll action just to have to fight the cute little reploid you were trying to save in the first place.

((I'anno, Hal, at the rate Rosie's making friends....XD;; ))

"Oh! I'm sorry..." Essex said, letting go of Acid's leg sheepishly. When Hallucinogen quickly poofed into existance in front of them, she caught her breath, startled.

"Gosh, are you okay?" she asked, leaning down to help him up. "I'm sorry you and Moonscribe aren't getting along. Maybe I should have roomed with you after all."

Leaning close in to his ear as she helped him up, she giggled.

"Besides." she whispered. "Think of how much he would annoy poor Miss Rosalind."

"HEY, red guy, I'm strictly neutral!" the aforementioned Miss Rosalind was busy protesting to Experiment. "Shees! Not everything's black and white, ya know. ...Well, my hair is, but you know what I mean."

She perked up when she saw the outdoors, though.

"Wow!!" she exclaimed, tail wagging. "This place is bonzo cool!"

"We can't waste any more time!" Nena said. "We've got to launch our frontal assault, NOW!"

"You're going to get us all killed, you know!" Pariku protested. "We have to go about this in a sensible, tactical manner."

"We don't have time for that! The big glowy thingy is gonna blow all of us up, and if we don't DIE, then we'll smell like blown-up sewer for EVER!"

"Then what are you -"

Nena ducked around the side of a large rotating piece of sewer machinery so it looked as though she came from a different direction than the rest.

"HYAAAAH!!" she cried loudly as she brought down the brilliantly glowing holy sword on the first Rikti she could get her hands on.

"It really doesn't matter, sir." Essex said, hurrying over to Acid and hugging his leg in greeting. "Regardless, it's good to see you. In a context where we aren't all supposed to be killing each other, no less."

Rosalind shrugged. "Sure, I'll switch. Solid and Ess can room, and me an' Toy can party. I always wanted to see if I could take Combat Toy in a scrap anyway." she said with a grin. "That settle it for you, squirt?"

"If you are content with that solution, I'd rather everyone just be happy." Essex said back to Rosalind with a blink. "I would be pleased to room with Solid, though I don't mind staying with anyone. Everyone seems very friendly."

Warning: Sharp Learning Curve Ahead. Rosalind thought dryly.

And I gotta admit.

Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts was a [censored] to beat.

"Jeez, you emo kids can't take any flack, can you?" Rosalind muttered with a shake of her head. "Psh...oh well. Kids can be so sensitive."

Shrugging nonchalantly, she stepped forward with a confident smile.

"So let's all take care of our bags and give this place a lookaround, eh?"

Essex once again found herself the center of attention, and her cheeks burned bright red with embarassment. The android was programmed to react to stimuli in a very human, realistic sort of way, and she could no more control this reaction than a calculator could resist displaying the correct answer to an equation.

"...You know..." she quietly offered, "...We don't even know if we're allowed to switch rooms. It may be a part of the experiment."

Rosalind shrugged. "Listen, Silver Bells," she said, addressing Solid. "You don't even know half the crazy [censored] this kid has pulled on us. I just don't want to have to deal with it when we're supposed to be relaxing and have a good time. You can ask my boy TD. But if you want to play 'baggage claim', be my guest."

"I don't want to cause trouble." Essex said meekly. "Sir Lyden said we can sleep on couches or on the floor, but didn't say if we can switch rooms. I can just sleep on a couch somewhere..."

"...And -you!-" Rosalind continued, turning to face Hallucinogen. "Yeah, I bet you'd wanna room with her. Hell, I may not want to myself, but I'm not gonna let anything worse than me happen to the kid. Which is why I'm also rulin' out Professor Plum over there." she said, jerking a thumb at Kef. "Though you seem like a hell of a lot of fun." she said with a toothy grin.

"As for the rest, I don't care. But like Dramabot says, if we're not allowed, I guess I'm stuck."

Yaaaaay!

*takes ribbon, puts in hair, dances and twirls*

*Smitten fangirl sigh*

Now THAT is a bad guy.

Sephiroth nothin'. My money's on Kefka.

This reminds me, I have a bad [censored] version of Dancing Mad done by the Black Mages to send you when I get home from work, Mecha.

Pariku stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I hesitate to kill any of the captive mages - perhaps they can provide us with an arcane edge against the Rikti. I would imagine they have enough motivation to join us against them. But one thing is for certain; we have to get them out of there before the extraterrestrials are able to commence their machinations."

"We can't let 'em start their plan, neither." Nena said, gripping her greatsword a little tighter. Pointing a green-gauntleted hand towards the left end of the group, she nodded. "We can bottleneck them in the tunnel if we approach from that direction. Anyone who can get to the mages should go around the back, and then we can flank the group."

"WHAAAAAT?"

Rosalind immediately protested. "I ain't roomin' with Dramabot!"

Scooping up Essex by the back of her armor again, she held her aloft.

"Who wants to trade?" she demanded.

"Mmf!" Essex said, surprised as her legs pinwheeled amusingly in midair again.

Ooh, I make my characters look like myself too.

IRL, I stand 5'0. I'm a tiny girl.

((*heart skips a beat* We have a Kefka now? @_@ *fangirl*))

Essex blinked, and quietly edged over to Kairaishi.

"Sir..." she whispered, very gently tugging at his robe. "Sir...you may want to save your rest until the others have introduced themselves."

I'anno, I still think Ian wins. XP

My characters are all how I react to other people.

Essex is really the most prevalent component of my nature - it allows me to combine my computer nerd with the tendency I have to incessantly mother and worry about my friends.

Rosalind is my fun-loving, careless, and smexy side that just wants to go out and have a blast without worrying about anything. She also embodies my tendency to kind of wig out when I'm overwhelmed by a lot of things at once. ((You know this is happening in AIM when I start talking in capital letters and screaming about how 8 people are IMing me at once. <_&lt)

Vanessa - who actually came from a Legend of Zelda and then a Transformers RP (I'm a sad and lonely person) - is my obligatory mad scientist. Her character has REALLY evolved, though. She's the part of me who really likes to show off. XP

Peng Na-li is kind of my self-verification as a big sister. XP She and Peng Wei-li are based off me and my little brother. The two of us are really, REALLY close. (Makes me sad that he's in college now and doesn't need me any more. T_T) Since she got killed by the Tsoo because she got caught talking to Longbow - trying to save herself and her brother from a life under Tub Ci - Peng Na-li is kind of like... my vanity in representing that I'd die for my brother without hesitation.

XP I'm vain.

"Ah...." Essex piped up next, standing on her tiptoes so she could be seen a little easier. It was rude to skim in someone's house without being given permission after all.

"...I am a replicated homosapien android, serial designation S6. I was created by Dr. Daniel West to function as a repair and remote navigational unit. However, um, my AI is a procedural model, which means I learn things like a normal person - It's self-writing dependant on experiences. ...Oh! Um...S6 is a little formal and stuffy, so most people have nicknamed me 'Essex' by now."

With that, the little pink android obligingly ducked back behind Solid once again.

Rosalind watched her with a quirked eyebrow and shrugged. She pulled out a badge in the shape of a vortex.

"...The name's Rosalind, but y'all can call me Rosie. I'm one third of the Dread Trio, a special forces unit of the Soul Police Chapter. Think of us as kind of a spiritual SWAT team. My job is to make sure that relations go okay between the spirit world and the mundane world, which usually boils down to 'Don't let the fleshies know that the tanning parlor on 8th and Main is actually a human-jerky curing center'. Y'know, unless they don't have their permits, in which case it's 'bust up the joint and confiscate everything.' Which is kinda fun. I like confiscating jerky."

Her tail wagged happily.

"Oh yeah..." she continued. "By the way, as you can notice, I have dog ears and a dog tail. I would like to assure you that I am NOT A WEREWOLF." She raised a clawed finger. "I am a were-human. My natural form is that of a border collie. If ya have any questions, ask 'em later."

"You talk a lot." Essex murmured from behind Solid.

"Shut up."

((Thank you Nin!! *glom* Sorry for holding up the world. XP))

"No!"

Hal soon found himself struck with a dizzyingly powerful wave of nanites, even as a slight red glow subsided from Essex's form.

"No-one will die if I have anything to say about it!" she scowled, releasing a wave of dual regenerative energies outwards from herself.

"Lyden!" Essex chirped happily, waving at the ginger-haired boy from behind Solid.

Rosalind turned her attention to the heavily-armored GSR Unit.

"[censored] me, I'm surrounded by robots." she grumbled as she obligingly began forward."

((Right right. I meant the first days of the RP were in Oct/Nov (one of those previous months. ) but now, the current day, is December 19th, the day before Christmas vacation. Right?

I thought that Nin described the conditions of the building next-day for our reference, and then we skipped ahead to 12/19.

Just wanna make sure we're all on the same timeline. ^^))