Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Mar 23, 2012 19:39:10 GMT -5
Evening of Month 7, Week 1, Day 6, a house in the suburbs of Detroit, closed.The house is a nice one. Two stories tall, three beds, two baths, and even a basement/rec room. The lawn could use some mowing, and the interior looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a while. The mail is starting to pile up on the kitchen table. The basement is the really interesting part though. It used to be a rec room, with a big flatscreen TV on the wall, an exercise bike, a treadmill, and a huge model train set on a big table in the middle of the room. The TV, the bike, the treadmill, and the train set have all been taken apart. Parts of them are scattered around the room in various strange contraptions. The rest of their various bits and pieces are mostly piled in a corner. The table is still in the middle of the room. Victoria Raines is strapped to it. Tarantulas is hovering over her, chuckling to himself. He sterilizes her arm with an alcohol swab, then injects her with an antidote to counteract the knock-out drugs he gave her earlier. "Wakey wakey," he says. The voice isn't his. The intonation, however, is the same. There's another table in the room. This one doesn't have anyone strapped to it. It has a radio on it playing classical soft rock. The Beatles' Penny Lane comes on, and Tarantulas turns around to adjust the volume up. "Ooo, I love this song." OOC: Abuse of Victoria with permission.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Mar 23, 2012 20:41:11 GMT -5
Victoria blinks several times, willing the rather uninspiring ceiling to come into focus. The last she remembers, she had just left the bookstore, rather pleased over all with her findings at Ms. Gabriel's signing. At least one, possibly more... she tries to bring her hand up to her temple and realizes that she cannot.
At least she can be fairly sure it is not Scourge who has captured her. He is not the type. Her mind quickly runs through the possibilities and determines that while there is a decent probability that she has been taken by another Transformer, there is a higher probability that she has been taken by some rather ill human who wishes to indulge some depraved urges.
This is rather sub-optimal.
Terrance's voice reaches her ears, and she tries to crane her neck so that she can see her captor.
"I would not rank it among their best, "she says.
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Mar 25, 2012 14:53:15 GMT -5
"Sadly, your taste in music is not part of this test," Terrence replies, smiling sweetly.
"So, Victoria Raines, age forty-five, bloodwork, hm, within normal ranges," he continues, tearing off a print-out from a boxy machine perched on an end table. "Do you have any idea how expensive it is for a private citizen to buy a Coulter counter? Plus you get weird looks when they deliver it," he says idly. "Do you have any allergies?" he asks, bustling around his makeshift laboratory and gathering what might be surgical supplies.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Mar 25, 2012 15:23:44 GMT -5
"As a matter of fact, I do know the expensive involved. It would be quite a substantial sum to a middle-aged stockbroker of slightly above average income," Victoria says.
She fixes Terrance with a cool look, "I find myself rather allergic to hygienically-challenged individuals who desire to perform unwanted medical procedures upon my person."
"Tell me, is now when I get treated to the stereotypical mad scientist explanations for my coming torment, or are you the type to withhold your plans until your tests reach the mid-phase?"
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Mar 28, 2012 16:53:16 GMT -5
"Oh no, you know all my cliches and have thrown them back at me, that's going to completely take the fun out of taking you apart," Terrence shoots back, putting the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically as his voice drips sarcasm.
"You'd do well to answer the allergy question truthfully. If everything goes as planned, you should live through what I'm going to do to you. The chances of that are dramatically reduced if you go into anaphylactic shock. I'm going to be attempting to cybernetically augment some of your muscles for strength and endurance," he explains, true to genre convention, as he fiddles with his equipment. "But before you get any ideas about using your augmented strength to escape, just know that I'm targetting your visceral muscle. So unless you can break your bonds by mixing your stomach contents, you aren't going anywhere."
It's true that the procedure won't kill Victoria if all goes well. (Tarantulas will kill her anyway, of course.) It'd be the first time it's worked on someone, but that's what experimental trials are for.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Mar 28, 2012 22:43:18 GMT -5
"But you intend me to die anyway, I am sure, so why bother assuring me that your procedure might not kill me?" Victoria asks. She seems almost darkly amused by her captor, rather than fearful. "Your other victims must have been pathetic, cowardly things to fall for such ruses. Did you promise them their freedom, if they survived your surgeries as well?"
She flexes slightly against her bonds, just like any bound person would, testing their strength. She does not hide the motion from Terrance; she imagines it will amuse him.
"You must be a rather incompetent scientist if you can't manage simple cybernetics."
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Apr 2, 2012 19:27:39 GMT -5
There's a crash as Terrence jerks suddenly and dislodges something that has glass parts. He curses and whirls on Victoria. There's now a meat cleaver in his hand. It had previously been lying on the table he was hunched over. In all fairness, it is a very clean meat cleaver.
"Simple cybernetics? What do you think I'm doing here, hacking off your arm and replacing it with a laser cannon? I'm attempting to improve on your fragile little human body on the molecular level!" His voice quiets as he notices he's nicked himself on something, and one of his fingers is bleeding. "If it's any consolation, your sacrifice is in the name of progress. I'd test the upgrades on myself, but, well, that would just be crazy!" Tarantulas says, smiling wide, a genuine mirthful smile that reaches up to his eyes as he bursts into insane laughter and hefts the meat cleaver over his head, the shadow of the blade falling over Victoria's wrist.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Apr 2, 2012 20:08:55 GMT -5
"My my. Testy, are we?" Victoria murmurs, actually smirking up at Terrance.
As he raises the cleaver, she jerks her wrists up and leans forward, snapping through the bonds and reaching for Terrance in one fluid motion. One hand wraps around his neck while the other hand grabs his wrist and twists, fully intending to break it.
Her perfectly manicured nails dig into his skin, "Of course one does not experiment upon oneself," Victoria says as she squeezes, "That would be folly."
"So is neglecting to make sure your chosen sheep is not really a wolf, Tarantulas."
She could be wrong. But there earmarks are there, and it's worth the possible shock value if she's right.
Manhandling with permission
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Apr 3, 2012 20:25:45 GMT -5
"Oh n-" Tarantulas doesn't finish his habitual exclamation before it's stifled by Victoria's hand around his neck. One hand goes to his former victim's wrist, trying fruitlessly to pry her loose from his neck. The other dangles limply from a broken wrist. To his credit, Tarantulas doesn't scream.
"You made it obvious enough what you were," he wheezes through his constricted windpipe, "that's why I picked you. One chooses a test organism as close as possible to the eventual subject." She also made it pretty obvious who she was, but she doesn't need to know that he picked up on that. Let her keep thinking she's smarter than he is.
He struggles against her hand, but his efforts grow weaker as he runs out of oxygen. "Go ahead and finish me, then. I've escaped death at the hands," gasp, wheeze, weak chuckle, "well, the ethereal tendrils of more powerful beings than you. Maybe I'll luck out again and vanish into another universe." Maybe the next universe won't suck.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Apr 4, 2012 11:09:07 GMT -5
"Oh, do please stop being so melodramatic, Tarantulas," Victoria says, easing the pressure off his windpipe slightly, "Why would I kill my newest employee?"
She reaches down with her free hand and snaps the remaining bonds. "I intended to be obvious, or did you not note that we were not the only changed in attendance? The Autobots are aware of my identity, so circumspection is more important than outright deception. Only one of us who was also aware would have made the connection."
Finally, she releases Terrance. "Speaking of circumspection, I trust you have been careful enough. This place reeks of death."
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Apr 5, 2012 18:12:36 GMT -5
"This is your idea of a job interview? And they call me crazy!" Tarantulas responds, a bit of spittle dribbling from the corner of his mouth.
He knew there were other Transformers there, yes. Clio was very obvious. Shockwave was the juiciest potential prey. Normally Tarantulas likes to go for more helpless victims, but his judgement has been impaired by lack of sleep lately. His human personality (which he thinks of as a poorly-implemented shell program, clearly Gaia is a worse programmer than he himself is) keeps getting nightmares from being trapped in a brain with Tarantulas.
He splutters indignantly. "It's not my fault these organics soil themselves when they die! I clean it all up!" He also burns the leftovers in the fridge once they start to spoil. "Of course I've been careful! No-one important's been missed. You would have been the first victim that would have caused a manhunt. It would have been worth it, though, to improve on this carcass."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Apr 5, 2012 21:41:57 GMT -5
Victoria swings her legs over the side of the table and frowns at Terrance. "I think I may need to install a splatter guard on your face if we are going to speak in close company." She might not be serious.
She probably is.
"This is not a job interview, Tarantulas. This is a conscription." Victoria wants to see what happens when you lock a scorpion and a tarantula in a room together.
"I would like my purse and its contents now, please."
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Apr 7, 2012 11:56:53 GMT -5
"I don't normally drool, you harpy! You were choking me," he protests, much maligned by the slur against his hygiene.
He rubs his neck with a hand and scowls at Victoria. "And what if I refuse to be conscripted?" he asks.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Apr 7, 2012 23:15:45 GMT -5
Victoria smiles a particularly nasty smile.
"Do you really want me to answer that in detail, Tarantulas?"
He would not be the first person she has made vanish without trace in her lifetime. Besides, he was right; one should always choose a test subject as close to the original model as possible.
"Now. My belongings."
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Tarantulas
Minor
The not-so-friendly neighborhood spider-man
Posts: 398
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Post by Tarantulas on Apr 10, 2012 20:59:23 GMT -5
Terrence snarls a particularly nasty sneer. It is not improved at all by the lighting in the basement. It is also not improved by It's More Than A Feeling coming on the radio, though it is made a little more surreal. "Fine, take your damn purse! I hope you choke on it!" he says, motioning vaguely towards where he threw the bag down on a table to go through for money later.
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