forum House of Chaos (RP as your characters, everyone is welcome)

Started September 10, 2020 by @bluebee55

tune

Thea laughed and shook her head. “No, I apologized for being rude to him. I think he apologized back, but I’m not sure.” She gently nudged Felix playfully, already seeming to be at ease now that the energy between them subsided.
“You need not worry…I wouldn’t flirt with Felix. He’s not my type…no offense.” Her gaze slid to Arwood, who was standing off to one side, staring into space with an empty expression.
“Um…Arwood!” She shouted, hoping to gain his attention and to draw him out of his own thoughts. Arwood's head snapped to look at her, “you should probably rest. We’ve, well, I’ve been a nuisance to you since Arrov.”
“No,” he shook his head, turning back to the wall as if it held some hidden message. “I slept before I was called here, nothing is amiss.” He gave one low humorless chuckle and looked at Felix, “hmm…I would never have guessed you would become flustered if someone flirted with you, interesting.”

"An apology? That explains why he isn't blushing. He's such an insincere person, his bigger than life personality is an act. Be genuine with him and he just shuts down. Usually though all it takes is-" Jarrod slapped the back of Felix's head.

"HEY" Felix stumbled forward a bit, then turned and slugged Jarrod in the gut. Jarrod doubled over, wheezing, both from laughter and because he was gasping for breath.

"See? Wh- jeez you hit me hard- what did I tell you?" Jarrod chuckled.

"I'm plenty genuine! It just caught me off guard!" Felix harumphed. "I guess the pretty boy stuff is more for the gang.. BUT STILL!"

"Anyways, it surprised me that he gets so embarrassed, because not only does he flirt with pretty much everyone, but he also used to be a slut."

"Hey-"

"Shut it. He stopped a year or two after I started working for him actually. We've been good friends, and with the Dunn siblings and Mel… well if I didn't know any better, I'd says he's taking down his walls."

"What is this an exposition spiel?! Shut up Jarrod."

~~

Mel knocked on the door that Austin and Em had disappeared behind.

"Unlock the door or I'll get Felix to blow it open!" Mel shouted.

A moment of silence was eventually interrupted by the lock sliding open and the knob turning. The door opened just a smidge and the angry eyes of a wolf glared out.

The siblings stayed silent.

"An apology? That explains why he isn't blushing. He's such an insincere person, his bigger than life personality is >an act. Be genuine with him and he just shuts down. Usually though all it takes is-" Jarrod slapped the back of >Felix's head.

"HEY" Felix stumbled forward a bit, then turned and slugged Jarrod in the gut. Jarrod doubled over, wheezing, >both from laughter and because he was gasping for breath.

"See? Wh- jeez you hit me hard- what did I tell you?" Jarrod chuckled.

"I'm plenty genuine! It just caught me off guard!" Felix harumphed. "I guess the pretty boy stuff is more for the ?>gang.. BUT STILL!"

"Anyways, it surprised me that he gets so embarrassed, because not only does he flirt with pretty much everyone, >but he also used to be a slut."

"Hey-"

"Shut it. He stopped a year or two after I started working for him actually. We've been good friends, and with the >Dunn siblings and Mel… well if I didn't know any better, I'd says he's taking down his walls."

"What is this an exposition spiel?! Shut up Jarrod."

Thea gave a short tight laugh, but glanced from Jarrod to Felix and took a step backward, face becoming guarded and tense.
“He used to be a slut, past tense. Arwood still hadn’t moved his gaze from the wall as he spoke to Thea. “Jarrod just said he is no longer one, so calm down. We are all friends here.”
Thea turned her head to look at Arwood, her frown deepening.
“Yeah, well, I could tell you the same thing Hem, so stop badgering me and start taking care of yourself.” She seemed to have been giving a demand, but her eyes betrayed her real concern.
She turned back to Jarrod and Felix, returning her smile. “Tell me more stuff about you and your companions. It was very interesting and entertaining.” She gave a sly little smile, “I might even tell you two stuff about me and my fellow company…but you have to tell me something first, and only then, will I answer a query.” She thought for a moment before asking her question. "Hmmm…do any of you have love interests? Do you Felix have a crush, or do you just…flirt about? What about Austin, Mel, and little Em, any crushes?"

Rebooting systems.

Clearly enough, Apz hadn’t expected anything like this to have happened. They’d been in one place, and it was almost as though someone or something had completely bypassed their security - a feat that was next to impossible to do, for multiple reasons - and forced a shutdown on them. As much as they liked to consider themselves a greater being, they still were a machine, at the heart. Well - maybe not at the heart; that part was most definitely ironic. But the rest of them was machine, we’ll just say that.

It was like a light switch went off, as their systems all started back up to running condition right away, instead of one by one. Apz was definitely a sight, with most of their body clad in dark, charcoal grey plating. It was more like an armour, completely covering them from head to toe. Hiding whatever horrors lay underneath, in which case it would be a secondary layer of lighter armour, then all their wires, devices, etc.
Apz had two primary sensors - two ‘eyes’, just as a human would. But their eyes were nothing like a human eye; in fact they were more circular, glassy in appearance, with the ability to change colour and size to project emotions; but as a default stayed red. In total, they had six, but the other four - two on either side of their eyes - stayed off. As long as they didn’t need the extra sight, they weren’t going to use them.

Apz stands up to their feet, their metal ‘boots’ shifting on the floor. Although faintly humanoid in structure, the differences were noticeable. They were bulkier, probably to accommodate whatever they had in store. They were also particularly tall. Not extremely so, but probably a few inches over 6’5” at the very least. And their head was devoid of human features, aside from the ‘eyes’; they had no nose, mouth, ears, anything. Only what could be considered an older styled helmet sit atop their head.
Apz’s sensors got to work at investigating their environment. It wasn’t a familiar place for sure. It also seemed to be an abode of some type, which surprised them. Who would knock out a war robot and bring them to a seemingly unprotected house? Something didn’t seem right. That, or whatever did this to them wasn’t exactly smart.
They swapped through a few modes of their sensors, only pausing when they caught glimpse of something.

Multiple heat signals detected.

Although on guard, they saw no reason to immediately go for their weapons. Apz held an air of confidence towards their abilities - if for some reason they were attacked, they would probably be fine long enough for them to pull out something as a defense. Hopefully, anyways.
With a step forwards, Apz knew they weren’t quiet. It was hard for something as heavy as them to remain quiet, especially on a floor like this. Anyone in the area with good hearing could probably hear the slight clanks against the floor - metal meeting the ground - all in a very even, never-changing pattern.

Thea gave a short tight laugh, but glanced from Jarrod to Felix and took a step backward, face becoming guarded and tense.
“He used to be a slut, past tense. Arwood still hadn’t moved his gaze from the wall as he spoke to Thea. “Jarrod just said he is no longer one, so calm down. We are all friends here.”
Thea turned her head to look at Arwood, her frown deepening.
“Yeah, well, I could tell you the same thing Hem, so stop badgering me and start taking care of yourself.” She seemed to have been giving a demand, but her eyes betrayed her real concern.
She turned back to Jarrod and Felix, returning her smile. “Tell me more stuff about you and your companions. It was very interesting and entertaining.” She gave a sly little smile, “I might even tell you two stuff about me and my fellow company…but you have to tell me something first, and only then, will I answer a query.” She thought for a moment before asking her question. "Hmmm…do any of you have love interests? Do you Felix have a crush, or do you just…flirt about? What about Austin, Mel, and little Em, any crushes?"

Felix blushed a bit, eyes darting towards Jarrod for the briefest moment before he ran off, shouting something about "that damn wine cellar"

Jarrod watched him run off before turning to Thea. "Love interests? That's an odd question. Probably has some dull answers too, how about we…"

Jarrod trailed off as soft, robotic footsteps reached his ears. He ducked down behind a piece of furniture, drawing his gun. He gestured for the others to find cover as well. His pistol ready, Jarrod waited for whatever was in the foyer.

‘I’m hungry,” Mint left the room.

Thea turned to the door, having heard the strange noises coming from the hall, but she had never that sound heard before and passed it off as the house making the noises. Jarrod’s reaction quickly told her this was not so.
“Arwood!” She hissed, holding out her hand, “give me your knife.”
Arwood froze for a moment as if weighing between the upsides and downsides. The upsides seemed to have won, and he grabbed his knife and tossed it to her.
Thea caught it by the hilt and started behind a leather couch, pausing long enough to give one order to her friend.
“Get yourself together, I need you.” Then ducked behind the couches cushions.

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Arwood took his sword a few inches out of its cover, making it easier to unsheath if he was in a hurry. Throwing his hood over his head, he moved into the corner of the room, hiding amongst the dark shadows. The gray-green cloak he wrapped around himself helped him melt into the background, blending with the shadows until he seemed almost invisible.

Apz could have sworn they noticed the heat signals moving as they switched back to normal vision. It didn’t alarm nor surprise them, however. They had no doubt that they’d been heard.

They rounded the corner of the hallway, into yet another room. It was here where their paced slowed down, enough to the point where they stopped, just in the doorway. Their head barely moved around, as though looking around - they didn’t have much of a neck, that was exchanged for more useful properties. Instead, thicker plating surrounded what possibly could have been a neck at some point. Most of their eyes did the work for them.

An audible sigh escaped their being - at least, a noise similar to one - and they spoke. Their voice was robotic, very low. “I know there are people in here. I’d rather not switch back to my heat vision and have to hunt you down. That hurts my eyes.”
Apz stood fairly calm, their posture straight, both of their arms by their sides. They seemed to not display any weaponry, but with a robot of their build and looks, it seemed almost uncanny for them to not have any visible weaponry.

"What weapons do you have? And do you intend on using them today?" Jarrod called from behind the couch. He was really starting to wish Felix hadn't ran off because he doubted his 9mm would do much do steel plating. Damn clankers. Government watch dogs, the lot of them.

~~

"Go away." Austin growled. Literally.

"Let me in dingus, I'm going to help." Mel huffed. "Unless you plan on miraculously falling asleep on your own."

Austin hesitated. Mel pushed the door open and strolled in, locking it behind her. A wolf pup, Em, her eyelids heavy with sleep but kept open by unconscious fear, lay quietly on the bed, which was as neat as all the others in the house. There was a desk with a few loose sheets of paper that looked drawn on. The small sketches indicated that it had been Austin. The bookshelf next to the desk had its shelves lined with books, but Mel didn't bother reading any titles.
She plopped herself down onto the bed, jolting Em. She lay back, hands behind her head, which lay on the soft pillows. She closed her eyes as Em trotted over to her and curled up at her side. After a moment, Mel opened and eye and looked at Austin who hadn't moved. His eyes, which were no longer human looked like they were hiding an internal struggle.

"Transform already and come sleep. You'll just tire yourself out not transforming, and then where will we be if you can't control yourself?" Mel asked, closing her eyes again.

Austin humphed. A soft sound, not unlike a quick gust of wind, heralded the wolf that trotted over to the bed. It was 3 or 4 feet tall just to it's shoulder, larger than most dogs. Austin hopped up onto the , causing the others to slide towards him because of the impression he made on the bed as he settled.

A cat nap wouldn't hurt. He'd just… make sure…. that… he was wary…..

The three fell swiftly to sleep.

“A wide arsenal. Very big to the point where even I don’t know the official names of some of them.” Apz had quite a few weapons to sport. Most were long to mid range, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t fight close quarters.

“Though I would honestly prefer not to fight. It tires me out..” Even though machinery couldn’t exactly experience the feelings of ‘tiredness.’ “So unless you give me a reason to attack, then no, I will not use my weapons.”

Mint came back with some apples. “Got food.” “Sweet,” Calix smiled.

Jarrod tucked the gun back into it's holster and cautiously stood up. "What do you want?" He bit off an insult, realizing that this one showed a bit of personality. It was definitely a robot though. That was rare, and the sentient robots tended to be better than the grunts the police usually used.

Now that Jarrod could see the robot, he realized that it definitely wasn't like any he knew. It was built too seamlessly, like someone had built machines just to put it together. Other Side artificers never did that with their bots and the cops never gave their grunts personality.

Must be from yet another alternate world.

"Sorry, I thought you were something else. Are you self aware? Or just good at faking it?"

“Faking it?” This time, Apz’s voice was different. Lighter, smoother. It still had that robotic undertone to it, but it almost seemed to be more human. “I’m not sure if I should feel insulted by that. But yes, we’re all self aware. All three of us are.” Apz mentioned there being two others, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else who had entered the room with Apz. Unless they were hanging around back somewhere, of course.

“Not really wanting anything. Just curious. Of who brought us here, to this location? And also..who are you affiliated with? The latter is of course, directed to you.” Apz seemed to investigate the room, a pale glint on their scanners looking to reveal wherever their focus was pinned at the moment.

“The former, well - anyone could answer that. We do not require an immediate answer for either of those questions.” Apz paused, as if thinking. “Well, one of the beings does disagree with my wording. But for the most part, we’ll accept any answer, at any time.”

"I'm not affiliated with anyone that would concern you, and I don't know who brought you here. We don't know what brought us here either. We were all going about our business one minute, we're here the next." Jarrod glanced over the robot, and gestured towards Thea and Arwood. "I don't think this thing's a threat. Come on out."

The siblings soon left the room to explore more of the house.

(I'm sorry about the long absence. Life has been busy, but I think it has cooled down well enough to be active again.)

Thea slowly rose and stared in confusion at the thing before her, she wasn’t quite sure she trusted Jarrod's judgment. Wrapping her fingers tightly around the hilt of her knife, she took a tentative step closer, then turned to Arwood in a questioning glance.
Arwood ever
“What exactly are you?” Arwood asked, walking forward and looking the…thing up and down curiously.

Apz stood by and waited, not once shifting their head to look at the ones that had just come out of hiding. They didn’t even move around much.
“Apz.” Again, their tone had shifted, but it was back to the lower tone, back to when the had first spoken. “Standing for Annette, Perone, and Zaghiel. You are currently speaking to Perone, although you probably heard Annette earlier.”

“As for what we..I am..” This time, Apz appeared to, through limited amounts, tilt their head to the left, as though in thought. “..whatever I feel like being. Originally peacekeeping machine,” they began to say, before adding, “Though that did not work out.”

Mint started searching in cabinets for whatever they were looking for.

Kasey had just been ordering a cup of coffee a few minute before, but now she stood in a bedroom that looked similar to the one she had back room, but none of her really important pictures. She was a bit dazed. She looked around and found a door to the hall way and opened it up. "Hello?" she called out, "Hello?"

Abie trotted out of the room and back to the group, flopped down in the middle of their circle, rolled over, and waved her foots and tail. fluffy shep want belly rub.

Mashka, meanwhile, had drifted off to the kitchen with vague ideas of finding food; having found an apple, she now returned, but upon seeing the newcomers, stayed hidden behind a corner. Only her hair betrayed her, curly brown tendrils drawn forwards by curiosity.