_Essex_

*ding ding ding*

Essex's ridiculously un-codename-like Maltan codename. XD Because she doesn't get it.

Personally, if I was giving her a real one, I'd probably go with "Dragonfly Ivory 7-7-7." Or something.

Vanessa had remained neutral in the fight with the spiders, continuing to play with some tinker-toys, her back to the rest of the children.

Essex returned around that time, holding a theatrically sniffling Rosalind.

Her eyes widened at the chaos that had erupted.

"My goodness!" she cried. "Look at this room!"

Rosalind facepalmed in the caretaker's arms. These newbs had no idea how to handle a Code S.

[censored].

I LIVED on the Chronicles of Narnia when I was little.

Reepicheep was the cutest thing ever.

"Yes sir." Essex said, scooting up to Solid with a dutiful nod. "Ah...I hope we're not in too much trouble."

With that, she turned her trajectory towards the base of Repliforce Paragon...

"No..." Essex said, looking more and more worried by the minute. "You and Hallucinogen kept everything well away from me in Oranbega tonight."

She fidgeted in midair, worrying more.

"...But then again, I was so concentrated on healing you guys that one might have without me noticing? I-I don't know! ...Maybe we should hurry back to Dr. West. He'll know what's wrong..."

Strangely, though...

...The green didn't brush off.

"Ow, hey..." Essex said, squinting a little and holding up a hand to her cheek. "Is it gone?"

"Hmm?" Essex blinked inquisitively as Solid tipped her chin to one side and examined her face.

"What's wrong, sir?" she asked as the larger android's suspicions were confirmed.

Luckily, it didn't seem to be anything but an odd discoloration in the synthetic skin...

Essex trotted out the door after Solid, being sure to turn the light out behind her. However, as she did, he could see a small mark on the skin of her cheek...

...something...

...green?

"Ah..." Essex said, rather worried, suddenly. "Ten minutes to eleven o'clock, sir. It -is- rather late."

She tapped her fingers together, looking down into her lap. "I've been out of the lab for a good 16 hours now. I do hope Dr. West is all right..."

Essex nodded, turning her eyes back to Solid with a smile.

"Uh-huh!" she said cheerily. "I don't know why, but people seem to be nice to me. Well...Either really nice or really mean for no reason. I don't quite understand it. But it's nice to have so many friends."

Upon seeing his face, she blinked.

"Are you all right sir?" Essex asked. "You look troubled."

"Krakenpops, hurrah!" Nena cheered as she continued to keep the giant beast's attention.

"...Sewerlicious." Pariku remarked dryly with a deadpan face. "The ice doesn't seem to have affected it so far. Neither has my fire. We are going to need to have something else slow it down for it to have any sort of affe-"

His words broke off as he felt a psychic presence observing them.

"...Someone else is here." he warned the group.

"Ah...." Essex blinked at Linn, and then looked to Ian apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry if it's an inconvenience." she said with a bob of her head.

"Um, Hallucinogen just contacted me. It seems that Sir Archlich is here...in the guise of the Silver Knight from earlier. He is following him."

Wringing her hands, having not taken Ian's hand when he returned from changing, she sighed.

"...Oh, Ian..." Essex worried. "What if whoever did this is still here? We could all be in terrible danger..."

"Well..." she said thoughtfully, "Because he's nice. ...Although he's not, really. I don't know why I like him. I suppose I just do." Essex mused.

Solid's search of the databases would reveal some information about Archlich placing him firmly in the villain camp, but Rosalind's information was much more cryptic. Where heroes turned up as blue and villains turned up as red, her file was...violet?

The information was vague, but it confirmed her identity as a were-human, skilled with martial arts and the use of claws. Nigh impossible to hit, and durable when actually struck, she was listed as some sort of obscure law authority, but conned as strictly neutral. Actions were to be decided on a case-by-case basis...

"...He knows a lot about me." Essex continued about Archlich, oblivious as she watched a commercial for a video game.

"Die please!" Nena yelled as her greatsword slashed through the gooey beast once again.

"Do you think saying 'please' will help matters!?" Pariku shouted over the roar of his flames, and extended a hand, healing Xander and After-Image of any peripheral wounds the two of them may have accumulated.

"It can't hurt!" she said cheerily, swinging for the fences.

Also, if you go into the "DUH I HAVE WINDOWS 98" version it lets you download good old-fashioned AIM.

Bah. XD;; Gophers in the backyard with a BB gun when I was twelve.

Kept them away from my strawberries. :P

Oh, it's great. It's like a combination of forum RPing and chat RPing. You can respond quickly, but at the same time you can take the time to really hash out your settings.

If we're going to do this, though, I might as well let everyone know - the way to do a line break on AIM is Shift+Enter. Though I don't believe it works in the multiperson chat rooms.

And AIM Triton is the suck. -_-

Essex: *Fret, fret* Oh dear! *healz0rs*

...You know, if enough of us get on AIM....

I've been RPing on AIM for years. How many you ask? *spends a moment counting on her fingers*

....Nine. Nine years. Shees.

And ironically, those little MegaMan icons are the perfect size for AIM icons...

Okay. *breathe*

Sovie,

You've been such a great roleplay buddy. There's a reason why I've drawn you more fanart than anyone else on the boards (besides myself) - your characters are just so...alive? Human? Believable? I don't know. None of those words sound right. I don't know.

Anyway.

I always looked forward to your posts. I love poking people for reactions and you were one of my favorite victims. ((I never did really get Reikoff to flip out. T_T))

Essex will dearly miss her Maltan uncles and her Tro'boy roomie.

Do you have AIM? I might as well give mine out here, since I don't mind if anyone on the boards has it. Mine is ReploidEssex.

Send me a note if you ever need anything.

W-what?

...

More articulate post coming soon. For now I have to keep my coworkers from noticing me sniffle. Dammit, I'm not supposed to angst in real life!!

*runs to bathroom*

"Oh, Mr. Archlich." Essex giggled. "He's kind of...um...a really old skeleton-man. He's really smart, though, and he's very good at magic. I never really understood magic...but his magic is amazing. He taught me a lot of spiritual stuff, and he's really wise and strong."

She had brightened up considerably, and seemed to be enjoying talking about him. Even if he didn't sound pleasant, Solid was accustomed enough to Essex to know that she really wasn't very good at insulting people.

"He's really grumpy though, and gets temperamental easily. Miss Rosalind says he throws 'diva-fits' when he gets upset, whatever that means. But I like him. He's a little mean...and ...I don't think he likes me at all... but I like him." she concluded, seemingly to herself, thoughtfully.

The pink android relaxed a bit.

"...I'm sorry, Solid." she apologized with a bob of her head. "You were just trying to make me feel better and I just started worrying all over again. I'm sure things will work out."

Essex turned her attention to the TV, watching the cartoons absently. She liked cartoons well enough - seeing how people drew emotion helped her get an insight as to how humans perceived. Additionally, the exaggerated body language helped her identify the more subtle real-life examples.

"...I wonder what the real Grim Reaper is right." she mused thoughtfully. "I betcha he's like Mr. Archlich. But I guess you don't know him. He's grumpy."

When Essex was originally created for the Megaman RP my friends were running, she was actually incredibly...

...emotionless.

*COLLECTIVE GASP!*

Essex was cold, serious, and level-headed. She rarely spoke, and when she did it was always something practical. She was a repair bot, but was moreso on the technical aspect than on the 'healer' aspect.

The one defining character trait she had was determination. She was a lot braver; and even jumped out of a helicopter to save Genki (before she had the ability to fly. Essex tied a cable to Burner's leg where he was clamped down, tied the other end around her waist, and jumped).

I still haven't changed her bio since the first time I made her, and it reflects this a little, calling her quiet and distant and claiming that it takes a while for someone to get her trust.

We all know that's a lie.

"Okay." Essex said, offering Ian a hand as she engaged her thrusters to send her into a skim once more. Whether he took her hand or not was moot, it was a silent offer of support. "I can probably convince Curtis, Hal, and Experiment to stay. I don't think I know anyone else, though."

Pariku moved his position to next to After-Image.

"Do not concern yourself, madam." he said, his eyes on the conflict as he assaulted the Hydra around them with fire. "Please rest. The others and I will hold off the undesireables."

Nena charged forward at one of the Krakens, getting right up in its face and lashing her sword horizontally at its gut, even as Reginald's arrow struck it in the face. The Heart Render sliced through the slime of the Kraken's substance, and it roared, its yellowed jagged teeth exposing itself.

"Eeeeew...." she wailed, "Gingivitis-tastic!"

"I didn't know you could pronounce that word." Pariku grumbled, intensifying the fire cages.