Ozell_One

Lyden blinked a moment, then seemed to decide that one more run of the applicator was needed for good measure. He then took a step back to point at CC.

"Advise remaining contestants dry off and rest. Lack of sleep for tomorrow's challenge is inadvisable."

He then gave a light bow, and turned, going back into the house. Kaloaten pouted.

"Sir Morgant, are you alright?"

"...I'll take that as a yes!!" With another big splash, Kaloa leapt out of the hot tub and dashed into the house, his soaking wet shorts trailing water long after his skin dried off. He would return dragging a first-aid kit and a rather bewildered Lyden, to whom he explained the situation in a hurried, hushed voice. "I'mtellingyouMr.Morgantjustjumpedinandtherewasacr ackandhisnosestartedbleedingandnowhe's-"

"Understood." Lyden stood at the side of the hot tub across from Acid holding Morgant, popping open the first aid kit and pulling out a small, compact hypo applicator- a common model many heroes and villains took along on their adventures. He looked up to Acid.

"Advise holding Morgant steadily until he is capable of his own movement." Clicking it on, he then pointed the steady green beam emitting from it at Morgant- moving his arm up and down from his face to his stomach a few times with mechanical precision.

Kaloaten perked up.

"My specialty is KICKS!" Impossibly flexible, he shot a foot out from beneath the bubbling water, inches from her head. It would quickly go down into the water once he realized precisely how awkward the motion was. "And some punches, too. I mean.. weapons like swords and stuff are neat, but only 'till they get taken away from you. Well, I guess your legs could, too..ACK!"

He gave another yelp in surprise at Morgant's quick entry to the pool, at first backing off as Acid held him up.

"It.. it probably isn't a bad enough bump for the medicom, but.." He stood up, water splashing everywhere. "S-should I go and get Mr. Lyden?"

"Waaagh!" Kaloaten, who had just about soaked in at this point, would be drenched a second time by CC's tumble in beside him. His first reaction would be to get out of the way to give her more room to fall- after that passed, however, he reached under until he felt his hands on her shoulders, lifting her up with a look of concern (and poorly hidden amusment) on his face.

"...Are you alright?"

The large splashes had left Kaloaten more or less drenched. Laughing and sputtering out water as he did so, he wasn't particularly worried about his pants getting soaked- he had packed six others just like them, one for every day of the week. He was thinking about hopping into the pool, but it seemed like people were already getting out, so it'd be no fun.. it was then he was reminded of the presence of the hot tub.

Standing up on the deck and walking over to it he rather crudely flung the cover off, and was greeted by a massive puff of collected steam not unlike what you got when you took the lid off of a pot of boiling water. He again contemplated taking off his pants as he looked to everyone else still outside, but again decided against it- yelping gleefully at the hotter-than-expected water as he jumped into the tub, then took a seat on the edge and sank in up to his shoulders.

The two Kosunn would eat their dinners without a word- when Tomanton was finished his potatoes, he rose.

"Kaloa, I'm going to bed." He gathered up his and Kaloaten's dishes, then went inside to put them in the sink- as an afterthought, he wondered just how messy the patio would be come morning, and who would clean it up. He called back out to Kaloaten; "Be on your best behaviour."

"Yes, Tomanton.." Kaloa sighed as he watched him disappear from sight, then stuck his tongue out as he hopped from his seat to go over to the side of the pool, sitting and putting his feet in the deep end. He found it amusing the big deal everyone had made over Acid swimming naked. Back where they were from, that was how they did it.. but no, Tomanton said that wasn't how it worked here.

Thinking about Acid reminded him of Morsko- the neat looking thing that had been following Acid around. Kaloa splashed with his feet lightly as he looked around, to see where him/it had gotten to.

Lyden held the wrapped potato, blinking in a bit of confusion, then he gave a light nod. After watching Essex go he went back to his room, setting the potato down beside his laptop as he began typing again.

Kaloaten was still viciously tearing apart his steak- Tomanton, after finishing only one, gently slid his remaining steak onto Kaloa's plate and stood, going over to the plate of potatoes to get some more for himself. He loaded up his plate and walked back, perhaps a bit too close to the pool..

"...Ah." Lyden, stepping out into the hall, shook his head stiffly.

"Offer declined. Unit Lyden ordered against moderate/heavy contestant socialization levels. Prolonged deviation from GSR nutrition plan also not permitted- and Unit Lyden consumed a full bag of potato chips in the morning to aleviate pre-contest anxiety, so.."

Just then, his stomach growled rather loudly. He looked down at it as if hunger was some sort of crime, unsure of what to do.

((Flow it is. XD))

Animal planet!

A bizarre aspect of Toman and Kaloa's race, the Kosunn, is that they're cathemeral- if I spelled that right, it means that day and night have zero influence on their behavior. Their home planet adopted the 24 hour clock, but not time zones- one Kosunn's 8am may be a sunrise, another's might be halfway through the night. You get the idea. This ease to fit any sleeping schedule makes the warrior race all-the-more sought-after as guards and sentries here and there around the universe.

Since coming to Earth, Tomanton's favourite sport is boxing- he sees no better way to prove one's might than a consentual fight under strict, pre-agreed limitations. Kaloaten's favourite sport is miniature golf.

((Blarg! XD Well, let's see what everyone else has to say..))

((Pyrria, that is definitely the best way of going about it, thank you. Uhm.. how does tomorrow (the 29th) at 6PM eastern sound? That'll give us plenty of time to RP the first night out, then our own friday night to get day 2 up and running.))

"Yay, I'm just in time!" Kaloaten, with that fresh out of the shower look, nearly bumped into Combat Toy on his way back out onto the patio. He was only in his belt and navy blue shorts- his hood had been pulled off and was dangling behind him, his hair the same silky white as Tomanton's- though much shorter. Notcing how effortly Acid had lifted the steaks off the barbecue, he attempted the same, giving a yelp as his hands were inevitably met by the sizzling meat. Still, he managed to land it on a plate- then for the second one, he used the tongs. With two plates in hand he stepped back to the benches, setting a plate infront of Tomanton. "Maybe I'll hop in the pool after.."

Tomanton bowed his head in thanks. "Mm. If you want to avoid cramping up, you will wait 45 minutes..." But it was no use- Kaloa was already digging in. It was like talking to a brick wall.

- - - - - -

Lyden continued to watch Moonscribe play, nodding lightly.

"Moonscribe's co-ordinination level: Excellent." He looked to the piano, seeing if it was being played off sheets or merely memory.. either way, it was the mechanical perfection Lyden himself strived for- which was why he was drawn to it.

"Kaloaten, you're filthy." Tomanton sighed as he brushed a bit of dirt off of Kaloaten's cowl. "When was the last time you took a shower?"

"Umm... yesterday, I did."

"You're lying, I can see the grime on you. Go take a shower."

Kaloaten gave him puppy-eyes...

Tomanton sighed. "Be quick about it, and you'll be back in time for the food."

"Yay!!" Kaloaten had evidently forgotten about that. He gave a quick nod, and then hopped up, starting in a dash back inside for the showers.

((Good time as any to advance the day?))

The kitchen's massive, state of the art refridgerator was PACKED. While it looked like it may have been neatly arranged at one point, there was simply too much food to cram inside- stacks were abandoned in favor of a jumbled mass of just about every food possible- reaching into the mass and pulling something out would likely have no effect on the overall structure of the thing. The only open areas of the fridge had been relegated to two things- a half-dozen or so black lunchboxes that were all engraved with the GSR emblem with sticky notes on them that said 'For Lyden', and.. cartons of eggs. Steaks, along with other meaty delicacies, had a whole shelf to themselves.

---------------

"...Ah.. um.. affirmative. Unit Lyden merely confirming musical source." It was confusing for the super-soldier how a piano ever got into the room- but whatever, it wasn't harming anyone. He stepped inside the room and pulled the door to, standing stiffly at attention while he watched Moonscribe play.

It was a bit chilly outside, with the sea breeze carrying up against the back of the house. As it was, though, the covered patio was nice and warm- energetic Kaloaten had somehow gotten up to his room, came down and outside, and figured out how to pull down the screens around it. With the layout of the house it would have been impossible, unless he jumped out of the second story balcony. Come to think of it, he WAS a bit dirty... Nonetheless, the soft glow of the lanterns made a nice backdrop against the dusk.

-----------

Lyden was in his room- he had one all to himself on the second floor. The next door room to his would have housed both Hal and Moonscribe- but now it housed Moonscribe and a big-[censored] piano, and he would have heard the playing first. Lyden stopped the report he was filing, confused at precisely how that noise could be- it was too high a quality for speakers. Leaving his room and the door slightly ajar, he went to knock on the door to Moonscribe's room.

"..."

((Oh, and, considering this is about a lull in the action, I'll clearly mark when the next day begins. I'll give a warning, so since it'll obviously cut things off and it's easier just to post how your character spent the night after the fact, just try to avoid being in the midst of OMG DRAMA at the time. Warned! ))

Tomanton blinked. "Con..cile? Heh.. seems I've much to learn. Perhaps I can be more direct with people during my stay here than spend my time with.. my.. nose.. buried.. in my reference books?" That line had been spat out particularly awkwardly- Tomanton wasn't quite used to the common slang and sayings of the English language. "But... as for your 'stroll'.. perhaps we can garner the layout of this place together?"

The house itself was fairly straightforward. It was linear in shape- aside from the T-shaped main room, it was divided into an east wing (which was utilities like the garage and a gym room on the lower floor, library and games room on the upper) and the west (which was pretty much exclusively sleeping accomodations. The northwest wing was a bit of an exaggeration, as it only extended maybe ten meters north out over the backyard patio- the rooms muscled out there to accomodate a stairwell/art gallery in the southwest corner of the mansion. There were three bathrooms- one on the lower floor of the east wing, and one on each of the west wing floors amongst the rooms- the western ones quite spacious, the eastern one looking sort of.. tucked in.

Out back, the yard seemed like it could be easily converted into a partying area- beneath the northwest bedrooms, patio lanterns for the roofed-off outdoor eating area swayed lightly in the breeze- beside the swimming pool, steam rose up from the edges of the lid of the hot tub. Off to the side of all this was a co-ed bathhouse and shower, and of course the pathway down to the ocean.

Out of place, though, was a large black metal crate with the letters 'GSR' engraved on the side- just sitting there, on the lawn. A container for whatever was to be used in the challenges, perhaps?

((I'll get a visual aid for this place when I get home from class. >_&gt)

[ QUOTE ]
He turned to Tomanton, "Culture shock, eh? Yeah, I can see where you're coming from."

For a moment, Acid looked intently upon Morsko, smiling knowingly, "But there's quite a lot of that. What are you two here for, anyway? The Concile been making trouble...?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Tomanton shook his head.

"No, no. Just... civil turmoil, and we'll leave it at that. Though the ever-growing presence of the Council is somewhat troublesome..HEY! Kaloa!!"

He glanced over Acid's shoulder to Kaloaten, who had plucked their bags from the bottom of Hermes' neat pile- and caused it to tumble into a disorganized heap. "What, Tomanton? I was just getting my bag.. yours too!"

"You've ruined the stack! Set that pile in place immediately!"

"I will, I will.. after I go put my videogame posters up in my room! Second floor, room.....?"

Tomanton sighed. "One. Room one on the second floor northwest wing."

"Right!" Kaloaten gave a mock salute and barreled off down the hallway.

"..What an incorrigible boy.."

Lyden was a bit surprised to see how fast a squabble broke out. Had he miscalculated the best rooming setup? He had tried to keep the males to one floor, and the females and robots to another.. the obvious exception being Kefeta, but that couldn't be helped. Hearing a question indirectly posed, he spoke up again, though he considered the loophole.

"Rooming arangements have been provided as comfortable resting places, nothing more. Switching of roomates is not PROHIBITED... Unit Lyden permits it, but is of the opinion that the simplest method of removing a roomate would be voting them off."

This was fine.. controversies were what the experiment was all about. As it looked like he was no longer needed, Lyden bowed slightly and left the balcony, going out of sight down one of the upstairs hallways.

[ QUOTE ]
Ooh, I make my characters look like myself too.

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

[/ QUOTE ]

Aww. I remember when I was a kid, one of my 'when i grow up' dreams was to become 6 feet tall, right on the button.

At 5'11": "Almost..."
At 6': "Yes!!"
At 6'2": "..."
At 6'3": "Noooooooo!!!"

Anyways, not freakishly tall, but taller than average. That I stand up straight but have to look down to people when I talk to them gives me a funky- lookin' 'S' posture. I digress.

Whenever I'm making a character, I find it works best for me to have one solid concept or central idea, and then leave the various other aspects of that character's background and life as open as possible. This generally helps because I can focus what minimal creativity I have into a solid definition of what or who that character is and roughly how they became who they are, without boxing myself in with some aspect of their background or character that's lame and I may regret later. If I'm hung up on any aspect of them, instead of mentioning they have nothing in that aspect, I'll just mention nothing period.

A good example would be Lyden, for those few of you that have seen him in action. He was originally made for a friend who one day went to Terminus and I and said "omg lets do team gimmick plox" And aside from me heading the costume design, Lyden was essentially made for him- his only distinguishing trait was his gloomy personality (brought on by his Dark-based powers, lol). Even though he was essentially a supporting role ("Understood, Master."), he started to grow on me, and I started to wonder how he could be developed.

How far had I taken him beforehand? Not very. He had been abducted at a relatively young age, had his memory wiped, and was conditioned under the GSR program into supersoldier-ness. So I started looking to the loose ends I had left for myself. Since his entire life was and is dominated by Greensryche, the logical extension outward would be his family. What the hell kind of family would let their kid get abducted and do nothing about it? Hmm.. maybe he was the product of a broken home? What would the rest of his broken family be like?

I decided on Lyden having a younger brother in their broken little family, Shun Sen. With mommy and daddy dead for various reasons, Lyden's abduction would be one of the last straws that would cause Shun Sen to, left alone, snap and have his mutant powers awaken (woo mind control!). Then, being retarded, I decided I wanted an older brother to exist too that wanted Lyden for more malicious purposes, rather than Shun Sen who just wanted his brother back.

But... I'd already boxed myself in by saying that Shun Sen was left alone. I decided that this 'older brother' would be much much older- already out of the house and living abroad shortly after Shun Sen was born. Shun Sen would have been too young to remember him, and Lyden, who would have remembered him, now has his memories scrubby-scrubbed clean. This older brother, now an established criminal overseas, comes back to the Isles to bring his two brothers into his organization by any means necessary.

So that's my thought process in action- no way am I creative enough to come up with that in a sitting or two.

*realizes he's bored everyone to death* Uhh... c'mon, trophytrophytrophy..

And then, at the far right...

"As was said, I am Tomanton. Kaloa and I are of a race known as the Kosunn, sent here from our somewhat-distant planet of the same name. As I'm sure you've seen, Kaloaten has taken to this planet like a duck to water, as you say, but I myself am still getting over the culture shock. However, when the time comes..."

Just from the look in his eyes one could tell he was smirking beneath his veil.

"Mm.. nevermind. If I may give my opinion- as unconventional as this whole 'social experiment' may be, sport is sport- and I greatly look forward to seeing how each of you chooses to approach this challenge. Male, female, hero, villain, it matters not- may the best participant win."

Kaloaten began to clap enthusiastically- but after a moment of seeing nobody else join in, he stopped. Lyden nodded.

"Affirmative. All identifications recieved. ...Proceeding with next objective: All participants are to be assigned one of ten two-person bedrooms- remaining in them however is not mandatory. It is in Unit Lyden's experience that couches and plush carpets offer similar levels of comfort to a bed."

A pause, while he unfolded another sheet of paper and read off of it.

"Main floor west wing room 1: Essex, Rosalind. Room 2: Cortianna, Stellarmare. Room 3: CelticCross, Lily. Room 4: Solid Shot, Toy Dispenser. Room 5: Hermes Helper, Kefetasura. Second floor northwest wing room 1: Kaloaten, Tomanton. Room 2: Hallucinogen, Moonscribe. Room 3: Sir Morgant, Kairaishi. Room 4: Experiment 2.0, Pyro-Technis. Room 5: Acid Zero, Morsko."

Again, this paper was folded up and pocketed.

"Pre-contest preparations complete. Advise participants rest in preparation for contest challenge tomorrow- It will begin whether in complete attendance or not. Unit Lyden will be on the premises in the need of assistance. Now..."

Lyden reached for a remote and pressed a button. For about two seconds there was dead silence- then the sound of clicking and popping could be heard from the far west side of the mansion. It was coming from the doors- spreading in a wave across the house, passing through the main room and into the east wing, all of the doors in the house were unlocked. After the last pop went off, Lyden allowed a moment of silence before speaking up once again.

"The experiment begins."

Lyden had stared fixated on each individual as they introduced themselves, one by one- whether he was seriously committing the names and backgrounds to memory or not wasn't unlikely- but on the surface, it just seemed like he had no idea that it wasn't polite to stare. He now had his attention on the rightmost side of the group- only a few introductions to go.

Guardian? Pharaoh? He looked to Moonscribe, not having recognised either of those honorifics in his training.. then seeing that he had the attention of the majority of the people, he began again. He took a piece of paper from a belt pocket, neatly unfolding it and reading off of it.

"Greensryche Research thanks you again for choosing to participate in this event- if you are here and being read this note, then the turnout has been acceptable. You are all heroes and villains of a fairly high caliber, and have used your super-powered abilities time and time again to prove your dominance in most any endeavor to which you apply yourselves. Greensryche Research, however, would challenge you- what happens when, from the survival of the fittest, the element of fitness is taken away? The objective of this experiment is simple: At the end of each day, you will vote one of your own out of this house until only one remains.

We expect and encourage you to use every trick in the book to come out on top. Politics, Diplomacy, Subversion. Making and breaking voting alliances is not only allowed, but it is encouraged- consider yourself above playing dirty at your own peril.

Violent use of your powers and abilities is strictly forbidden- a power-restricting field can easily be put in place on this house, and we sincerely hope we will not have to resort to using it for the duration of this experiment. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult Lyden- he is effectively the on-premises director for all activities to take place on these grounds. He is in a position of authority- when he speaks, listen."

Lyden raised his head and looked once over the crowd before continuing.

"Remember, this contest is largely what you make of it. Do you consider yourself to be a survivor or an eliminator? Will you be passive, or directly manipulate others to ensure that you stay in the game? Whatever it is, my friends, be sure to make it stick. You will be paid upon completion of the study... should you win. I wish you all the best of luck."

Lyden then folded up the paper once more, and pocketed it.

"...A single administrative requirement must be met prior to contest beginning. Unit Lyden requesting each contestant to briefly identify and outline themselves. Identification will commence from left to right."

Kaloaten, who was at the far left, piped up excitedly. "I'm Kaloaten, but you can call me Kaloa! ..Because 'Ten' is my last name, and in our culture we just say the whole thing in one word.. Tomanton is my role model! He'll definitely know who to vote off!"

Tomanton, at the far right of the crowd, sighed.

Tomanton sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the setting sun, knowing the greetings would soon be wrapping up. "I knew that poor robot didn't work here. Now what trouble has Kaloaten gotten into...?"

He strode into the doors, glancing over his shoulder as he passed the bags to insure their two were indeed there. Coming behind Kaloaten- who, in the confusion of people, had merely snuck back onto the couch while mumbling apologies to Kairiashi (he hoped he could make it up to him better later) and began watching the ultraviolent anime. Tomanton grabbed him by the horns, titlting his head upwards to look at him.

"I saw that, Kaloaten. Next time you would do better to look before you leapt."

"I know, Tomanton, I know..." He averted his eyes. "I'll be more careful...?" The entire living room would lose a bit of light at that moment from the TV being turned off. Nobody was at the button, though, and the remote wasn't in sight.. A new voice played from the sound system- but its origin could easily be heard from the indoor balcony elevated above the main room.

"Requesting your attention."

The remote, likely confiscated earlier when Kairaishi was asleep, was in the hands of a young man of around 18 or 19 years of age- only his eyes and well-trimmed orange hair visible on the sleek black padded bodysuit that covered him from head to toe. His near-robotic military posture spoke of intense training and discipline.

"Greensryche Research, a subsidary of Greensryche Industries, thanks you for your interest regarding your participation in this social experiment. Unit Lyden requesting participants lower their voices and gather- contest parameters will then be detailed in full.

((And here they are: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77768780@N00/ ))

Tomanton stared quietly at Experiment, who he had met before- then at the two girls who then approached next- and silently second guessed his ability to put up with living with others. He would swallow his pride, though- it was a social experiment, so the idea was to be, well, social. Taking a couple paces toward them, he really wasn't all that good at masking the look of.. unamusement on his face.

"Well, if we are all 'weirdos' as you say... then would that not make this ordeal all the more interesting. Greensryche Industries is a prominent company on the isles- they would stage such a thing as this on good grounds. Furthermore.."

And then his head would turn in the direction of the sound of the motorcycle sputtering.

"...Morgant."

Kaloa, liberated of his (and Tomanton's) bags, saw the anime out of the corner of his eye, and would dash right inside to it. He didn't give much of a thought to the Jounin, only hoping to get closer to the TV- nimbly placing his hands on the back of the couch he would vault over it, plopping down... not realizing that the couch was quite taken until it was too late.

((What? Ack, nooo! I had no idea people would be this interested in it. I can deal with nine people as opposed to seven, so I'll bend the rules- this'll be the cut off post. Since you guys got in and had something in mind.. Devious, Prodiguy, feel free to edit your posts into your entrances. But anyone below this line is out of luck. ))

((I don't count for one of the seven, so there's still one spot left. Just make sure to introduce them soon, I'm looking forward to it. >_< ))