Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Dec 1, 2012 10:19:45 GMT -5
"You showed up out of nowhere and now you're going to interfere with my work? What's in it for you to mess me up? What is it you wanted, anyway?"
“I wanted to know what that is, remember?” Dex growled. He kept himself a distance from it and a distance from the human. He was, for the most, being non-threatening. Mostly, he was observing. His instincts were still telling him to make it burn but it was scaled looking like a dragon.
"This must look pretty weird, huh?"
Weird? Nothing was weird for a daemon. Certainly things were odd; strange even; but weird is such a non-existent term to a race that can look like anything and tend to do just about everything.
“You get earthquakes in Reno often?” Dex asked the human wondering if he could salvage this day at all. America was a pretty earthquake-y place. Well some parts were and Dex knew the more an earthquake was likely the stronger one would be if he made it happen.
Last Edit: Dec 1, 2012 10:22:00 GMT -5 by Dex Al'Kordon
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Dec 1, 2012 11:17:12 GMT -5
Craig sighed in mild exasperation. Was the man looking for a baby-sitter? Craig turned his attention to him. "Well, it looks like a rodent, seems to be a bit larger than you would expect, though. It's also got scales and stuff, so it must not be a rodent... or at least purely so. Scales are typical of fish and reptiles, but fish can't survive out of water excepting for a few peculiar examples that may. By the power of deductive reasoning, it must therefore be reptilian in nature. It isn't a creature you've ever seen before, clearly, so let's just identify it by it's appearances. Repti-rodent!" Craig had blurted out more than he'd meant to and almost hoped he didn't make the man feel bad. But then, this jackass had also thrown someone into a vat of boiling grease recently, something Craig didn't feel obliged to forget.
He turned to the 'repti-rodent', as he'd called it a moment ago, and pulled out another burger as it approached, moving away from the previously-dropped burger. He reached the mid-point of the parking lot for his own firm and turned to call the rat. "No, we don't get earthquakes here often... what are you talking about?" Craig eyed the man suspiciously. He was seriously starting to make him uncomfortable. Don't let him in the lab. Craig made a mental note and proceeded with his previous business.
"Hey, come here, you!" Craig reached in the bag to extract another burger and half-toss it, but the rat began rushing towards Craig first. Craig froze in surprise as it bounded up to Craig's feet and stopped, looking at him curiously like a dog awaiting a master's orders. Craig glanced sideways at the strange man, half-wondering if they were seeing the same thing before returning his attention to the rat-creature who was still waiting patiently. "Stay here," Craig ordered before he tossed a burger past the rat. The creature's head snapped to follow the quarter pounder with it's eyes but didn't move to go after it. Craig's eyes narrowed in examination as he commanded the creature, "Go get the burger, bring it here uneaten."
The rat scurried off, grabbed the burger, and returned. It had obeyed perfectly. "Drop it." It did so. "Good. Eat." The rat consumed the burger whole. Craig turned his head to look at the costumed figured in moderate bewilderment. "Unbelievable." He turned his head back to the rodent. "He seemingly understands my commands. Why would that have happened as a result of my splicing the TGF beta one into the Rattus rattus?" Craig mused, appearing rather lost in thought before turning to the other man. "Here, you try. Tell it to do something and see if it obeys." Craig was in full scientist mode now and could likely stay up with his rat all night now. His eyes gleamed as he looked over his creation, not yet realizing that it obeyed only him.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Dec 2, 2012 10:00:10 GMT -5
Dex’ eyes glazed over as the man went on a rant that frankly stomped on Dex’s attention span. He heard Repti-Rodent and looked over at the thing. It did kind of look like a giant lizard and a giant rat’s baby to Dex.
“No, we don't get earthquakes here often... what are you talking about?”
Dex wasn’t altogether happy about that. He could pull out a meteoric shower but frankly the last time he pulled that he’d almost been struck by a downed fighter plane. Of course that had been during World War 1 when he could put a meteor shower across No Man’s Land and each side would think the other was bombing it.
Suddenly the rat darted forward at the human. Dex put his hand inside his suit feeling for his emergency tomahawk and fully prepared to throw it with accuracy if the thing turned on him. Astonishingly the creature didn’t seem to hold monstrous intent and seemed, to Dex, like a workhorse awaiting orders.
He watched then as Craig, who appeared to follow the same thought, experimented with the creature. Dex was astonished at the control the creature displayed towards not eating that which ever instinct in it’s body most certainly lusted until command. Craig spouted some rubbish after that which Dex took to mean they were right.
“Here, you try. Tell it to do something and see if it obeys.”
Dex was surprised the mortal was giving him an order. He was slightly more surprised though that the human seemed to want to share his discovery with Dex. He reasoned the mortal probably just needed another to help his experiment and Dex was nearest.
A wicked glint shone in Dex’s eye just before he opened his mouth and ordered “Kill him” pointing at the mortal with a thick, red finger.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Dec 6, 2012 10:19:01 GMT -5
Craig's eyes widened in mild alarm. If the rat listened to any homo sapiens, he could be in trouble. He quickly turned his attention to the rat-lizard and watched to see if it made any such attempt. It didn't react at all to the other man. Craig turned and looked at the other man, mind whirring. "It could be that it only listens to me or perhaps it ignores attack commands in favor of not risking it's life. We don't know how loyal it is yet."
His eyes flicked to the mildly distracted rat. It seemed to be sniffing after something on the ground, bored with their talk. His eyes returned to the other. "I'm going to order it to attack you. If it seems to be obeying, I'll call it off. If it doesn't obey, then there's no problem. This'll show us if it's willing to assault opponents of a larger size, speaking necessarily for species of a less domineering stature." Craig turned to the rat and whistled. It's head raised and ears seemed to perk as it looked at Craig. Astounding. "Attack." Craig commanded instead as he pointed to the fellow beside him.
[]
The creature's head snapped to the other man and it's muscles appeared to tense. It darted suddenly, using it's long, rat-like legs to spring forward in a bit of a zig pattern, reminiscent of the way a gecko might zig-zag along adobe walls. It was remarkably fast, Craig realized. "Stop!" he cried. The creature halted a small few feet from the tall man and looked blandly around. "It seemed unbiased as to what goes on, almost bored when told to stop or wait." Craig remarked and then went to give the creature a quarter pounder. He dropped it in front of the dubbed Repti-rodent, who gobbled it up with a little less haste than the prior one. "Perhaps he's starting to get full," Craig noted. He turned to the other man. "I didn't catch your name, by the way."
Last Edit: Dec 6, 2012 10:19:37 GMT -5 by Craig Jamerson
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Dec 9, 2012 8:49:11 GMT -5
The rat did nothing which was, on the whole, a touch annoying. Simply causing fear in the human just wasn’t enough to merit his satisfaction. He could do that any time he wanted after all.
“It could be that it only listens to me or perhaps it ignores attack commands in favor of not risking it's life. We don't know how loyal it is yet.”
Dex found he understood all that. Furthermore he agreed with the hypothesis. Dex did add in “Maybe it only follows the guy with the burgers.”
Teh human was gone though and didn’t properly reply droning on about something to do with attacking. Then he seemed to order it to attack him. His hand reached instantly for the tomahawk in his suit primed to defend himself. However the human called it off and Dex remembered it was just an experiment to see if it would attack him.
The thing was quick though and Dex knew he had to be on guard. He wondered if he could cook it’s brain before it got to him. At the end of the day a solid hammer to the skull would kill it. Hell with that hammer and his strength a metal head wouldn’t even help you.
The human fed it another burger and it was eaten slower this time. Both the human and Daemon came to the same conclusion with the difference being the human’s need to vocalise it.
“I didn't catch your name, by the way.”
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.” Dex blurted out before he’d even had the choice to keep the fact he was a Daemon a secret. Shrugging he added “And who are you?”
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Dec 9, 2012 9:12:31 GMT -5
Craig's face flushed as he heard the other man's response. No, Daemon. Craig corrected himself. He turned his head to the fellow slowly, looking him over as he replied simply, "I'm Craig." His actions made sense, for a Daemon. In fact, throwing that man in the grease vat was relatively nice compared to what he'd seen of Daemons. It was a wonder he hadn't just blown up the entire goddamned McDonald's. Craig hadn't realized how dangerously close he'd brushed with death earlier. But wait, the last Daemon he'd met had appeared ever so Human. Why did this guy have all the horns and stuff? Craig shrugged the question from his mind after he decided there was no really safe way to ask about that sort of thing and instead merely smiled at the Daemon keeping him company.
"I've met your kind before." He said, massively understating the emotions and memories whirling about in him as he spoke. "But, to be honest, you seem like a better sort of fellow than that other guy did." Craig gulped. Daemon. That was a scary word. He couldn't stop thinking about that night at the Diner. Damnit, what was th--
Craig forced his mind to clear. He was not going to have a meltdown. Not here. Not now. Especially not while he was standing next to a Daemon. No, it'd be far better to appear unfazed than to freak out on the Daemon and hope he didn't kill him for being so annoying. "So," he began, not really knowing where he was going with the sentence. "Where are you from?" Craig asked as he walked towards the lab. "Follow three feet behind me and a little to my left," he ordered his creation. It hastily fell into line as they walked.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Dec 10, 2012 13:52:00 GMT -5
There was the fear he just mentioned. He really could do it whenever he wanted. His impressive visage and demonic manliness was sure to have any mortal screaming for their mummies; mummies he’d probably already slaughtered.
“I'm Craig.”
The reply was a little too stiff. The man was trying to act a little less afraid than he really was or, at the very least, that’s how it seemed to Dex. He seemed to calm down a bit though before continuing.
“I've met your kind before. But, to be honest, you seem like a better sort of fellow than that other guy did.”
Dex’s non-existant eyebrow wiggled upwards questioningly. Who did he meet before, he wondered. The man chose his words carefully though. If he’d insulted a fellow daemon in front of Dex in too harsh a term he might have found himself another Daemon enemy. Of course, instead, he had made Dex feel just a tad proud that he was more likeable than another demon. Pride really was something of Dex’s weakness.
“So, where are you from?”
“Rome.” Dex didn’t really consider whether or not it would be prudent to respond to such a question truthfully before doing so. Granted, his answer didn’t explain much. “You?” He asked following the human at the side away from the creature.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Dec 11, 2012 13:10:25 GMT -5
Craig smiled heartily. "Ah, Rome. It's an amazing place. I'm from here in Reno." He stopped at the door to the lab and turned around to face the Daemon. "Would you care for a coffee or something? I usually stay up late working anyways and I might make this one an all-nighter, so I could use some relaxation before I plunge into my work." Craig suggested. "Or if you wanted, Dex, maybe you could go pick some up so I can watch the rat to make sure he doesn't run off again. Maybe I'll run a couple tests on him while you're gone." Craig reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, which he handed to the other. "Here, I'll buy," he said with a genuine smile. He pulled a card from his wallet as he turned to the door and swiped it before punching in a series of numbers. A red light turned green and the door unlocked. Craig opened it and addressed the Repti-rat, "Go inside, up the stairs to the second floor. Open the door, go inside." The rat darted off quickly, even bounding off a wall as he turned the corner. Craig turned back to Dex, "Test one," he said with a chuckle. "Just hit the buzzer beside the door and I'll let you in. I'll see you when you get back?" he asked for confirmation.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Dec 11, 2012 16:05:56 GMT -5
Dex felt like he was being stopped. He felt like he was being shut out. This guy was suddenly friendly; suddenly offering him coffee; thinking with his ‘superior’ human brain that he could be duped with the lure of free coffee. He didn’t een drink coffee. It made him even more thoughtless. Perhaps he should go and get coffee. Drink as much coffee as he could and come back here. Fuck this place up. Pray to Sol for a giant meteor shower to bombard this forsaken city of idiots and mutants.
Dex was twitching a little. His left eye was fluttering. His heartbeat was elevated. Adrenaline coursed through his body. Dex’s fist hit the wall with explosive force. It crumpled. He exhaled. “Okay,” He replied yanking the twenty dollars from Craig’s hand and taking off.
His breaths deepened in flight. He was calm. Well, he was almost calm. He breathed deeply as he soared ever further higher until eventually the whole city was mapped out in front of him He looked out at it and sighed. “It has to go.”
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Dec 11, 2012 19:40:58 GMT -5
Craig's eyes gaped as the Daemon punched a wall, causing it to shudder and chunks to fall from the edge where Dex had thrown his fist. For a flash, Craig was afraid the Daemon would attack him, but then he then tooked the money and zoomed off in flight, offering only an, "Okay." Craig blinked at the nothing now before him before shrugging and turning around into the building. He made quick work of the flight of stairs (he never took the elevator if he could help it) and found the rat sitting patiently inside of the lab. "So you figured out how to open doors," Craig noted aloud. The rat scurried over to him and Craig patted it's head. "Ready for some tests?" Craig asked. "Follow me."
The geneticist approached the northern edge, unlocked the doors and entered, closing the doors behind him. He then bent and hoisted the rat onto a counter-table. "We're going to be looking at your blood pressure, get a sample of your blood, evaluate your physical properties with an x-ray, then measure the effectiveness of your muscles against the mass that composes them. After that, some mental tests to see your comprehension levels and some puzzles to test your reasoning levels." Craig pulled open a drawer and extracted a stethoscope. "Let's begin," he suggested to the rat.
