Test 3: Subject Sigma (Jacogos) vs. Samuel Berezoff (Cfavano)

[Jacogos]

The Whispering Lady has always been a sort of local legend to the citizens of a small coastal village in what would eventually be Florida (Though it was still a long time yet before THAT comes about). Some claim to see the 'ghost ship' yet never is it seen twice, or by more than one person at the same time. Yet almost all who live in that village have seen it, but no one knows why it is so. It is a curious thing. Some would describe it as little more than a paddleboat. Others see a full-blown war-ship, while others see a simple trading vessel...

So then how, you ask, do we all know it is the same ship?

No matter who you ask, if you ask them what name was on the side of the ship, they'll all go a little wide-eyed, look both ways as if expecting to be run over by a car that doesn't exist yet, then whisper to you, "The Whispering Lady..."

It is upon this ship that two fighters have been placed. It is your basic 'pirate' ship, with three masts hoisting black sails, a raised navigation deck, a hold that can be gained access to by a grate that lies in the middle of the main deck, the captain's quarters which are raised up from the navigation deck, and the rest of the belowdecks which can be accessed by the double doors that are built between the two sets of stairs that lead up to the navigation deck.

Belowdecks consists of the mess hall, which is immediately inside the doors, a rather large room with a single long table that could sit 20 comfortably on the benches. Behind the mess hall is the living quarters, which goes down into the hold and then back towards the mid-ship. You can enter the hold through the door at the 'end' of the quarters (imagine a great L-shape, standing up. The Door would be at the 'end' if you were writing the letter). You may also enter the hold through two ladders to either side of the double doors leading into the mess hall.

The Captain's quarters, though it is now bare of any furnishing, would be a rather large room that contains a single well-placed trapdoor that leads into the living quarters that lie directly under it.

The ship is deserted, yet appears to be moving, as the wind catches the sails and the anchor is pulled up. In the distance, one could make out a large rock formation appearing from the blue sea.. It is uncertain when the ship would hit it at this point in time, though it could be very soon.

Subject Sigma appears upon the navigation deck.

Samuel appears near the bow of the ship.

Suddenly, a voice comes from nowhere, yet everywhere, speaking to the two warriors and saying, "Well, well, I think we've outdone ourselves this time, boys! Okay you two we want a clean, fair fight, which is just MY way of saying: MURDER EACH OTHER!! Good luck, have fun!" With a click that seemed to be like that of a PA system cutting off, the battle commenced


(I shall allow you the first move, Cfavano)

[Cfavano]

Samuel looks back and forth, scanning the area around him. He takes a few tentative steps forward. His boots making soft creaking sounds on the worn boards of the deck. He smells salt air, and hears the complaining sound of gulls. "Where in the name of Corellon am I?" He turns and notices the large rock formation in the distance. "Damn, that doesn't look good." He starts walking toward the stern, holding his glaive tightly in his hands, his reflexes alert, and ready to respond. From what he could tell, the ship was deserted. "Is anybody here?" He prepares for the worst as he steps up to the navigation deck, and notices the glowing sphere with the strange glyph on it. "What is that?"

[Jacogos]

Set sail! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_x1rpGbY8)


Suddenly, there was light. If Sigma had eyes, it would have blinked them. It was much brighter here than it had been on the last battleground. Sigma looked around, its lack of eyes making it appear to be simply floating, doing nothing. It was on a large wooden vessel, afloat a large body of water... Ship... ocean... it's latent knowledge put words to the objects almost without having to think. That was one of the few things that Sigma did not actually have to learn during the battle. Apparently this made it easier for... Someone. Sigma did not know who, though.

At the time that Sigma began to hear a voice from the front of the ship- the bow? What a silly term- Sigma's onboard computer began to scan the battlefield. The knowledge of the ship and its layout became known to Sigma, as well as some hidden things. The waters held dark things, things that Sigma could not put a name to. Evil things. Sigma did not like the water.

Sigma also could tell that there was a collision imminent. ~This may bring the ship to a halt in approximately 30 minutes****~ the computer told it. Sigma did not know what would happen then, but then, Sigma figured it would be bad. Best to end this quickly and with minimal struggle.

With the scan done, Sigma could focus on the other presence that had also been picked up by the scan. The presence was now on the navigation deck with him, a man who, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be very... very... boring.

"What is that?" it said, to which Sigma would have tilted its head at, if it had one.

"I am Subject Sigma," the experiment said with a disembodied voice that had no gender and equally lacking emotion. "I am here to fight you. Is that pleasing to you?"



**** 30 minutes will take about 6 posts. Upon Post 7 (see my 'title' at the top of the post), the ship will hit the rock and the battle will proceed into a secondary battlefield.

[Cfavano]

He takes a step back. "Fight? You? Right off the bat? I don't even know you. So, your name is Sigma. Interesting name. My name is Samuel. Samuel Berezoff." He bows. "I guess we could do a little sparring, for fun. And we can use that time to figure out where we are. And how we can stop this ship from hitting that big rock." He gestures to the rock with his thumb. "So, we should make the match quick." He begins to circle Sigma. "So, tell me Sigma, where do you come from? I come from a little village in the Nerath empire. If what the voice said was true, we are here to fight. But I wonder why. Why must we fight? And why here? Mayhap we will find the answer. I will allow you the first strike, my new Acquaintance. Whenever you are ready." He keeps his guard up, both hands on his glaive, ready to counterattack.

[Jacogos]

First Strike! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYLvj5WrKAQ)


"Greetings Samuel. According to my sources, we are somewhere off of the coast of a continent that may or may not exist where you are from. As far as stopping the ship, unless you feel that you can steer a ship and fight at the same time, I would suggest putting it out of your mind," Sigma said as it 'watched' the man begin to circle him, obviously taking the offer for a fight to his heart even if he didn't seem to talk like he did.

What surprised Sigma was that the man did not know why he was here. Surely he had been told or had at least been aware of the circumstances of the fight beforehand. If not, then how had he ended up here? Subject Sigma was fairly certain that...

Strange. What had it been thinking about? It was certain that it had been on a process of thinking just mere seconds ago... Strange, indeed. No matter.

"First strike?" Sigma questioned the man, wondering what he meant by that. The man made no move to attack Sigma, so it assumed that the man meant that Sigma could attack first. But... What did that mean? Sigma had learned 'offense' in the last match it had been in, where...

Again. Where did Sigma's memory go? It had been remembering something from... Before. Before the ship. Before the sea. Sigma did not know what it was, though. The word 'offense' had appeared there, though. Offense... To attack. Sigma felt a surge within itself. Energy, in the form of electricity... What was it to do with this? Surely there must be something... The ship was wooden, the energy would not go there. The man-

The man. It must fight the man. The man must fight back.

Sigma flashed red for a moment, giving Samuel only a brief second to prepare before a burst of electricity shot forth from Subject Sigma in a deadly sphere of shocking power, surrounding the experiment. And so was the first attack made.

[Cfavano]

He jumps back to try and dodge the outward burst, but he ends up going over the rail and falling down on to the main deck on to his back. "Waugh!" He gets up, and rubs his back, which hurts. "Wow, you sure don't play around, do you, Sigma? I kinda like that. It makes it more fun. That was a pretty interesting move, but I got a few up my sleeve as well." He starts jogging back up to the observation deck, but only far enough to where he has a clear line of sight, and the he focuses for a moment before pointing his Glaive at sigma, and firing 4 fist-sized silvery bolts of force at him. "Take that! Magic Missile!" He then starts to put some distance between sigma and himself, hoping the creature follows him. "You having fun yet, Sigma?" He yells from the main deck.

[Jacogos]

Feel the burn! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TSpd3mvl3A)


Sigma was almost worried that the man had already died, seeing him fall like that. But immediately Sigma was consoled by the sound of him getting up. "Good. Not a push over," Sigma said aloud, though not really directed towards anyone. The mage got back up easily and came back up to point the weapon he held in his hand at Sigma. At first, the android was almost certain that the man was about to swing the large blade-staff at it, until suddenly there were orbs of energy flying at it.

There was not much the orb could do but attempt to dodge, which was basically a quick movement to the side for the floating ball of light. One of the orbs smacked Sigma directly in the... "face", though, and sent the orb hurling into the guardrail of the navigation deck. Floating back up to optimum height, Sigma shook itself off somehow and returned its attention to the battlemage, who was retreating to the main deck.

Sigma followed slowly, floating down the steps that led to the main deck. There were two masts on the main deck, the mainmast and a forward mast. The third mast lay behind the wheel of the ship, a much smaller sail, but still useful. Sigma stopped at the foot of the steps, feeling power well up within it. Was the sign of an attack it must use... If only it knew...

Heat!! So much heat! It was unbearable. Sigma would have been sweating if it had pores. What to do with this heat? There must be something. Get rid of it... Somehow... Release it. Give it...

"It's so hot!" Sigma screeched as a burst of fire poured from it, a line that aimed directly at Samuel. Sigma had no idea why the fire was aimed at him, but Sigma assumed this was what it was supposed to do. After a moment of the stream, the fire ceased and Sigma was once again cool. Sighing in relief, Sigma returned its attention to the battle, only to realize that the ship was burning.

"Oh. Oops."

[Cfavano]

He crosses his arms in a block against the fire, and it his him, but dissipates, leaving behind some first degree burns on his hands and face, as well as some burned off hair. He looks to see part of the ship burning. "What the hell do you think your doing, Sigma? You want to kill us both?" He focuses his energy and holds out his hand as he blasts the entire main deck (Including sigma and the flaming area, before it gets too large) With a blast of extreme supernatural cold. The cold is so intense, the fire turns to ice, and drops of water in the atmosphere freeze and fall on to the deck as snow, and a light layer of frost appears on the wood as it freezes.

[Jacogos]

A change (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0PFrWavYU)


"It was an accident, I swear..." Sigma stated before a burst of ice encased it in a frozen tomb.

Trapped under the ice, Sigma found itself wondering how it would escape. The defense matrix, a shield of some electric barrier, had prevented it from being truly encased in ice, so the android had about a half-foot to maneuver and such, but with no appendages, powers, or otherwise it seemed that Sigma was well and truly stuck in the ice.

It was about the time that realization struck it that Sigma felt itself begin to change. The change seemed familiar, but Sigma wasn't quite sure why, as it had never felt this feeling before to its knowledge or memory. From the outside, the ice would seem to glow, putting off a distinctly blue light. Inside, Sigma was a ball of light, shapeless, formless, indescribably bright and beautiful. After a few moments, though, the light began to fade, the ice melted away from around Sigma, and the orb that used to be the experiment was now a child-like figure, vaguely iridescent and floating about two feet above the ice.

The child might have been about four or five years of age, but the eyes, those odd eyes, gave it an intelligence much much higher. Dressed in a single white shirt and jean shorts, it was hard to place the child's gender, though the short-cut dirty blonde hair seemed to name it a boy, but that was hardly reliable. It studied the battlemage for a moment, then spoke in a child's androgynous voice, undertoned with something... more.

"I am sorry about the fire, but that was unnecessarily brutal. I might have died in that ice," the child said with a small pout.

[Cfavano]

"Yeah, sorry." He scratches his head. "I just didn't know what else to do. If I had let the ship burn we both would have died for sure. I apologize for almost killing you." He walks forward to the child, and then looks quizzically at him. "I think I get it now. I think I know why we have to fight. That form before was an egg/larval stage. And now you are growing. That voice...I think it is using us to test it's creation, meaning you." He sticks his glaive in the deck, the blade easily sinking in through the wood. He picks up the baby sigma under his arms, gently holding him in his hands. "I think I know what you are. You are a homunculus, a human created by dark magic. You are being used for some experiment. Someone took great care in making you. But something tells me you are much older than you appear, perhaps this is not the first cycle you have been through?" He gently puts him down, and then goes back to his glaive. He picks it up and faces Sigma. "Sigma....I don't know how much free will you have. All the homunculi I have faced in the past did have some will of their own, but in the end, were slaves to their masters. I do not know if you understand or not, but I have a feeling that, even though we are friends, or trying to be...we might still have to kill each other if your master makes us. I have hope that maybe you are different. Maybe you can fight it. You don't know me, but I hate tyranny in every form. I, too, was once a slave. Every being deserves freedom. Do you understand what I was saying? I don't want to kill you, especially now."

[Jacogos]

Sigma Used Flash! Samuel's Accuracy Fell! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlBifX0H3yg&feature=related)


Sigma blinked when the battlemage picked him up. It didn't know what to make of it, but it didn't resist. The mage simply spoke to him, did not attempt to attack. He spoke, and Sigma listened. Eventually, Sigma was put down, only to float back up to about two feet above the floorboards, and the child-Sigma titled its head at Samuel.

"I have will. I exist... I am. But I am not... a 'homunculus', or whatever this is you call me. I am Sigma... What that means to you, I know not. I simply know, somehow, that I have no definition in this world or any other. I simply..."

Power. Form. Energy. Light. What? Burst. Pulse. Set it free. Light!

Sigma was flooded by impulses, telling him... something, something he needed to figure out before the impulses drowned him in garbage thoughts.

Set it free! Release! Let go! Light! Light! Burning light!

Sigma's body shone for a moment, and then burst forth with light equal to three suns brightness. Simply looking at it for a split second would leave a human without sight for a few moments, but for more than just that split second, and you risked losing your sight forever. Sigma did not know what was going on, but the impulses stopped, so it assumed it had done well. It saw nothing but light, but it was not blinded somehow. It was an interesting feeling, an odd experience.

Then, the light was gone, and Sigma floated there before Samuel.

"Am," Sigma finished, blinking in the sudden lack of light.