Lyden glanced up at Combat Toy, then at everyone else in the kitchen. He seemed to think there was enough as he turned back to Combat Toy to speak.
"Majority of contestants are active and present. Unit Lyden will detail the challenge."
[ QUOTE ]
She muttered a question of her own, but it was lost in the peanut butter. It almost sounded like, "Do we get to go to the beach too?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Affirmative." Lyden picked up on the question perfectly, nodding as he rose. Striding over to the door to the patio, he lifted up the edge of one of his gloves to expose a barcode on his wrist, pressing it against a small black patch beside the handle- there was a buzz as the door unlocked. Turning, he spoke strongly and clearly to try and gain everyone's attention.
"Pending completion of breakfast, day two 'immunity' challenge will begin. Located on the patio table are eggs numbered one through twenty-four. When ready, select one egg. With priority on safekeeping chosen egg, report to the beach."
With that, he opened the back door and stepped outside onto the patio. Unstacking the cartons of eggs, he popped them open- each looked to be fairly normal, though they had been branded with the numbers 1 to 24, as Lyden had said. After laying them out neatly, he started across the backyard and down the small slope to the beach.
Kaloaten grinned in delight. "Eggs are fun! I wonder what we're doing...?" Wolfing down the rest of his crepe, he hopped up and made his way out onto the porch, taking egg number 1- because, well, he wanted to be number one.
Tomanton just sighed, but rose up from his place anyways. "I suppose I should go, I'm finished. And.. Kefetasura? Please come to my room after whatever this is is complete." As he turned to make eye contact with the demon, his eyes glinted in a way that could only be described as.. ambitiously. "I'd much like to continue discussing that tea metaphor- I found it interesting." With that, he stepped outside and took egg number 2- because, really, whatever egg he took didn't matter.
((Pyrria, who might not be here for this, has informed me that CC and Lily would otherwise be taking numbers 15 and 3 respectively. So.. uhh.. EGGS RESERVED.))
[ QUOTE ]
"I suppose I should go, I'm finished. And.. Kefetasura? Please come to my room after whatever this is is complete." As he turned to make eye contact with the demon, his eyes glinted in a way that could only be described as.. ambitiously. "I'd much like to continue discussing that tea metaphor- I found it interesting."
[/ QUOTE ]
"It was a wonderful little chat, wasn't it? So very personable," Kefetasura grinned at Tomanton.
[ QUOTE ]
{Lyden]"Pending completion of breakfast, day two 'immunity' challenge will begin. Located on the patio table are eggs numbered one through twenty-four. When ready, select one egg. With priority on safekeeping chosen egg, report to the beach."
[/ QUOTE ]
Helper followed along. He shuffled himself up to the carton and carefully extracted egg number 4.
"This is quite interesting. I wonder what the task will encompass," he mused cheerily as he made his way off to the side, clearing the path for the others.
Kefetasura slipped into the selection area and placed both hands on the table, looking over the eggs with intense interest. He hemmed and hawed and tsk'd until the less patient contestants were near ready to scream at him. He selected egg number 7 with a chipper grin.
"Here's my lucky egg," he announced, waving it around in front of everyone rather non-chalantly. He slipped into a patio chair and stroked the egg lovingly..
Cortianna blinked dully at Lyden a moment before pooring herself another cup of coffee, refilling Lily's cup before the thought had even formed in the other girl's mind.
Fresh cup in hand, the pyrokinetic walked by the table and down toward the beach, on the table, the egg marked 10 wobbled and lifted off after the teen.
Stell, having just grabbed some fruit, listened to Lyden's instructions and nodded. When there was an opening at the table, she walked over and picked up egg 18 before going lifting into the air and flying down to the beach.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Hallucinogen walked nervously over to the table and took egg number 5.
Moonscribe followed suit, taking egg number 21.
"I don't really like this. . ." Hal muttered to himself as they left for the beach.
"Now, now, Pharaoh," Moonscribe said with a knowing smile on his face. "This shall be fun."
". . . You're cheating!" Hal said irritably. "I just KNOW it!"
"Oh, honestly," Moonscribe said calmly. "I am not allowed to cheat. I simply find the outcome. . . amusing."
"Dangit!" Hal said irritably. "You aren't supposed to KNOW the outcome!"
"The outcome of what?" Moonscribe returned as they left, Hal carrying his carefully, Moonscribe's orbiting his head.
Experiment, with all the agility of a slug that had been stepped on, and had a bucket of salt poured on it, grabbed egg 16 and walked off, holding his egg oddly steady for someone so tired.
Meanwhile, a single blink of flame shot from the house, wrapped around egg 9 and pulled it inside, Pyro grabbing it from the air, smirking. It cooled down from the heat instantly, and he held it, walking outside with the look of a normal person.
It appeared the pyromaniac was a morning person.
Essex's eyes brightened and she carefully picked up egg number 6.
Rosalind saw she took it, and pondered for a moment before reaching for the number 9 and snickering. However, another hand deftly scooped it up before she had a chance to, and she grumbled, begrudgingly taking 17 and going to lean against the wall.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Sheesh, you guys are a handful." Acid chuckled, trying to find a recycler for hus plate. After about a minute he remembered that humans put their dirty plates in a dishwasher instead of disintigrating them and set about to find that machine, opening the oven for a moment.
"Nope." he commented, moving to the next thing that looked fold-outable, which just happened to be the dishwasher.
"Damn it," he grumbled, trying to make ense of the many poking rods, "How the hell do you use this thing?"
After someone finally gave him a hand, the challenge was announced.
'Immunity challenge?' Aw hell no! Forget this, I've got no intention of humiliating myself for a TV show, and...
He never got to finsih that thought as he backed out of the kitchen, bumping into Morsko. The sleek black creature nudged at his leg, driving Acid back into the room.
"Oh no you don't!" Acid turned to Morsko, trying to stare him down, but all he seemed to get in return was one long unblinking stare, "Listen, I know I said...do you even know what the heck this is?...I'm not making excuses...!"
Finally, Acid threw up his hands in defeat, "Oh fine, I'll do it. Stop arguing with me!"
Morsko seemed satsfied at this as he licked a few spots of clood off his lips, then curled the ip of his long, slender tail about egg 24 while Acid took hold of 23...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((I've already filled Tom in on the details, but, basically...notice how I haven't been around in the forums or in-game a lot recently? Yeah. That'll continue until Saturday.
Since, well, you guys are pretty active, as much as I hate to say it...it's yet another RP I'm gonna have to bail out of. Sorry))
((Noooooo!
*cling* >____<
You're only gone till Saturday, ja? Our freakin' pool party on the first night lasted like three days. I'm sure someone can fill you in when you get back. ;_; ))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((psst... Essex. Experiment/Pyro got egg 9. 
Really hate to see you leave Term. I'm... kinda... sure we can like... slow down... somewhat... ... ... >.> <.< ))
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
((Yeah, Term- it's really not as big a gap as you think, and, uh.. stay. I'd think of something else to say but I just woke up and I'm tired and there's no need to pull out when you're just not active for a day at most. Staaaaaaaaay. And thanks Arashi, while I was gonna PM Essex to let her know, I guess we can always tell her infront of everyone.. >.>
)
The eggs were being plucked from the cartons fairly steadily, and currently only nine remained- while there was a surplus of eggs to contestants, the surplus was a bit smaller than it should have been. At some point during the selection, egg 13 had vanished from the pile and was otherwise unaccounted for.
"This should be fun," Solid said as he reached down and plucked egg 8 from the carton. "I wonder if we'll get to throw them."
"Probably something more along the lines of an egg race," Toy Dispenser said he retrieved egg 11 from its carton, putting a force shield around it and tossing it back and forth between his hands.
As the two androids meandered down to the beach with Combat Toy tromping along behind, Mini Bot looked around it suspiciously and slowly edged past the cartons, one of its tentacles snagging egg 12 as it went by.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Down on the beach, the last of the clouds were gone. It had turned into a beautiful day, if a bit unpleasantly windy this close to the shore. Lyden stood at-ease, watching as everyone made their way down to the beach with their eggs. In his right hand was a remote control, in his left hand was another sheet of paper- evidently explaining the challenge required a bit more eloquence than Lyden was able to procure on his own. When he felt he had a good amount of attention, he unfolded the paper and began to read.
"Good morning, contestants- or if the collective assembly of you found yourselves incapable of rising with the sun- good afternoon. According to the weather reports, the beach should be quite pleasant today, and will continue to be so until the challenge begins.
By now you will all have selected an egg and have it on your person one way or another- and as long as you are holding one, you stand a good chance of victory. Be prepared to guard your egg, and do right by it- however, you must also accept the fact that your egg will not be doing right by you. Aside from their geometric perfection and unparalleled taste, there is one characteristic that sets these Greensryche-engineered eggs from any regular one. Lyden shall demonstrate this for you now."
After reading a bit further down the list in silence, Lyden jerked his head up. "...One moment. Unit Lyden must retrieve an egg for demonstration purposes."
He uncermoniously dashed back to the patio, returning moments later with egg 20. After looking to it a moment, he stepped through the gathering of contestants to Mini Bot- looking down and handing it to him, he gave an order that after watching him in the morning he knew Mini Bot was well capable of.
"Pull."
Mini Bot looked down at the egg in its claw, looked up at Lyden, looked over at Toy Dispenser, shrugged, and threw the egg through the air over the water.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
As the egg sailed through the air, Lyden watched it dully. Pulling out the remote and pointing at it, he pressed down a button with the corresponding number to the egg sailing in the air- it burst. The magnitude of the burst was no larger or more powerful than that of a large water baloon- but nonetheless it ensured that anybody who might have been holding onto it would get quite messy.
Kaloaten gasped. "It.. it egg-sploded!"
"EX-ploded", Tomanton corrected, oblivious to the pun.
Lyden had already continued to read. "As you can see, the eggs you must defend are rigged with low-yield explosives. The remote Lyden is carrying will allow him to monitor which eggs are still intact- and to detonate one or two or three eggs every few seconds, in no particular order ((Random number generator for amount of eggs burst [1-3] and numbers of the burst eggs [1-24, including ones that were not picked])).
Does this complicate things? No, it does not.. as the aim of the game is not to be the last one holding your egg, but to be the last one holding any egg. Do not fret should yours burst- merely attempt to steal one off of another contestant. Do keep in mind that while these are bombs, they are still eggs- you know what will happen if you attempt to take one too violently.
Is this even worth it, you ask? To face possibly dozens of burst eggs in the name of claiming immunity? Determining risk versus reward is entirely up to you. The last contestant to still be holding an intact egg wins- the name of the game is 'Chicken'."
With that, Lyden folded up the paper once again and pocketed it, looking to the group and readying his remote. "Commencement pending contestant readiness." Tomanton sighed and loosely gripped his egg, holding it at arms length. Kaloaten assumed a rather awkward looking fighting stance, cupping his egg- appearing ready to toss it in the air whenever Lyden was about to detonate them.
"Ooh, goody!" Kefetasura said with glee. "This is going to be even more fun than I dreamed!"
Helper chose to acknowledge Unit Lyden with a simple "Understood, sir."
"Oh this is gonna suck," Solid sighed as he held his egg in one hand and whipped out his assault rifle with the other. "And yeah, I loaded rubber rounds for just such an eventuality, so sue me."
"This will be easy," Toy countered as he tossed his shielded egg into the air and then snatched it out of the air before handing it to Combat Toy. "A quick question though, are my bots allowed to participate or do they have to stand out?"
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
"I am ready, of course," Moonscribe said calmly, his egg continuing to orbit his head.
Hal sighed in exasperation, his hands shaking slightly as he held his. "I guess I'm ready, but do we have to?"
(( XD
Rosie is awesome.))
Experiment perked up immediately at this, and held his egg from his body, but in such a strong grasp between his fingers to not crush it, but keep it from slipping from his hands in theft easily.
Pyro, meanwhile, was throwing it up and catching it, smirking. "Come on, people! Let's get started!"
[ QUOTE ]
"A quick question though, are my bots allowed to participate or do they have to stand out?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Lyden blinked. "Affirmative- particpation to Mastermind subordinates granted, though Mastermind unit -must- personally posess an egg in order to be considered for victory. Example: if two intact eggs remain, one each posessed by a mastermind subordinate and another contestant, victory immediately granted to other contestant."
Lyden, on his trip back for another egg, had noticed there were two less eggs than there should have been- he didn't care. If anyone had taken extras with the idea of improving their odds, right now they would be concealing them at a price. He waited for the others to announce their readiness.
I...can't...freakin'...BELIEVE I'm doing this!
A quick look from Morsko said it all. He had promised.
Curse me keeping my word.
"Anytime you're ready." Acid nodded, nodding over to Morsko as he added, "So's he..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Oh dear..." Essex replied, looking at her egg unsurely.
Rosalind nodded with a snicker, tossing her egg up and down in her hand.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Cortianna grunted and drank more of her coffee, her egg floating serenly at her left side.
Stell blinked at the detonated egg and looked wairilly at her own before shrugging. "Well... this'll be interesting."
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
Lily, sunglasses firmly settled over her eyes, followed Cortianna into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. Perching on the edge of the sink, she sipped her drink and glared around the room. She was also not a morning person.
Unlike CC.
"GOOD MORNING!" The carrot-top bounced into the room, all sunshine and smiles. She stuck her tongue out at Lily, earning herself another dirty look. "Aw...did I miss chow time? Oh well...I'll just toast a bagel or something," she bubbled to herself, scrounging in the pantry. Coming up with some wheat bread, she snagged a plate and a knife and some peanut butter. Dragging a chair to the table, she made herself an open-faced sandwich.
[ QUOTE ]
"So what's the challenge for today, short stuff?" Combat Toy rumbled as it stomped into the common room where Lyden was sitting, arms crossed and eye strip sweeping back and forth.
[/ QUOTE ]
CC nodded in agreement. She muttered a question of her own, but it was lost in the peanut butter. It almost sounded like, "Do we get to go to the beach too?"
Writing: Cape Fic
Featured Art: MechaTerp & CorporateRock, by Shia
Music: DJ Pyrria