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Edited by TehDildacorn: 3/2/2018 7:04:39 PM
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Fireteam Daybreak: Thanatonaut- The Deep Stone Crypt (Memory 1)

[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/197415283?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1]Catalogue of Art and Fics related to Fireteam Daybreak[/url] [b]Characters[/b]: Merric, Laila, Cayde-6 [b]Word count[/b]: 5,526 [i]Part 1--- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/211065569]Thanatonaut: The Deep Stone Crypt (Prologue)[/url] Part 2 --- (currently reading) Part 3 --- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/227373339]Thanatonaut: The Deep Stone Crypt (Memory 1.5)[/url] Part 4 --- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/227633976]Thanatonaut: The Deep Stone Crypt (Sideshow 1)[/url] Part 5 --- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/229905165]Thanatonaut: The Deep Stone Crypt (Memory 2, part 1)[/url] Part 6 --- [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/243496257?page=0&sort=0&showBanned=0&path=1]Thanatonaut: The Deep Stone Crypt (Side ------- “Do it.” There was a quiet groan from his chassis (a resigned sigh) as a hot flash illuminated his cheeks and throat; eyes flickered her way and he pushed back the sickness in his gut. “Are you sure...?” he asked uncertainly, more to convince himself that what he was doing was right than to solidify her decision. Laila nodded without a hint of hesitation in her. Oh how she hoped this would work... “Alright then… deep breath.” The gears in his jaw froze, hand gripped the weapon tight and snapped it up between her eyes. There was a flash, a loud clap, then the grinding of metal piercing metal. Her vision blurred, then static, then nothingness.[/i] Laila fell and hit the ground hard, and as she jolted awake with a sharp gasp she swore she could feel the carbon fiber muscles in her dreaming body strain. Eyes tore open and she snapped one hand over her pounding heart as consciousness settled in. Eyes blinked rapidly as she panted and searched the room for- for… “Woah woah [i]hey[/i], Laila, honey… easy...” Rough, gentle hands moved over her shoulders to cup the back of her head and roll her over to him as he shushed her and held her close, fingers tangling into long black locks of hair and lips soft on her forehead. Indescribable comfort washed over her as she leaned, trembling, into his arms and needily burrowed into him. Fingers wrapped tight around his biceps and she buried her lips in his shoulder with one hand still scratching lightly at the back of his arm. “Merric I-” “Shh shh, it’s alright, it’s alright… it was just a dream…” [i]A dream…? It felt far too real for it to have been “just a dream”[/i], she thought. The depth of the life she had led weighed heavy on her heart- the things she’d endured, the people she’d known and loved, the hopeless state of the world in which she’d lived... what did it mean? “What was it this time?” There was a long pause as she hesitated to answer him and she swallowed and closed her eyes as she let herself relive it again. Death, rebirth, new life, new purpose, darkness, death, [i]too much death[/i]… brows and neck twitched as a quiet groan gurgled in her throat, and she squirmed uncomfortably. Where should she even start? Red morning sun streamed in through the curtains drawn closed over the window taking up most of the far wall from floor to ceiling, drawing her back to reality and helping to ground her in the present, that which wasn’t a dream. “I died,” she replied in as plain of words as she could manage. “[i]Several times[/i].” There was a long silence between them as she lay there listening to him breathe, until he squeezed her softly and rested his cheek against the side of her head. “I’m sorry.” “No, don’t be!” she reassured with a long, controlled sigh, hugged herself tighter in his arms. “All in all, it was rather fascinating to experience, it was just- [i]overwhelming[/i].” She stopped as the face of the man who’d shot her pervaded her thoughts- artificial, organic… blue-eyed and expressive. It was a face she knew she’d seen before but couldn’t remember where, a face that triggered feelings of intense fondness but also frustration and aggravation. Whoever he was, she’d known him well, she’d felt it deep down. But who was he? Fingernails scratched idly at her scalp as she tried to remember. Merric gave a blank stare directed over her shoulder at the wall and blinked. [i]Spoken like a true scientist[/i], he thought to himself as he exhaled. “Dying in my dreams isn’t exactly what I’d call [i]fascinating[/i].” Laila shook her head as she pulled away from him, sat up and leaned with her back to the wall, reached up and ran a hand through her hair to pull it out of her face. “It wasn’t my death that was fascinating, but the depth of the world, and my place in it,” she confessed as eyes settled on the sheets at the edge of the bed, voice trailing off as she finished her thought. “As if I’d lived half a dozen lives...” “[i]Oh[/i].” He blinked again, this time understanding how a dream like that could have carried so much weight. “Do you remember much from those lives?” Laila pursed her lips and just barely shook her head. “Not much,” she replied as she remembered the man again- wild-hearted, charismatic, arrogant, brooding… there was no point mentioning him until she knew who he was, and she already knew who he [i]wasn’t[/i]. “It was more of a feeling really, hard to explain, like déjà vu-... [i]ah[/i],” As she remembered she stopped mid-sentence, smiled quietly and turned her eyes down to her hands with a bashful chuckle. “But I do remember one thing.” “What’s that?” he asked with idle curiosity as eyelids lulled shut. “I remember you,” she said as she reached over and placed a hand softly over his; Merric’s expression softened and his head lay back down onto his pillow as fingers threaded between hers and squeezed at her hand, which comforted her. “You were always there: sometimes not as yourself, sometimes as someone, some-...[i]thing[/i] else, but I [i]knew[/i] it was you.” Merric reached up with one hand, cupped her cheek, and pulled her down to his level so he could kiss her sweetly, which she reciprocated with a needy whine and soft fingers around his wrist. Forehead pressed to hers as eyes opened to find hers, a serious look crossing his face. “You know I’ll always find you wherever you go, doesn’t matter what life.” Laila nodded as blue eyes flickered open and looked back into his, and her heart throbbed wildly as glowing red eyes flashed back at her for just a moment before they were gone, replaced by the amber color of his irises. Lids pressed tightly shut as she reached up and rubbed at them with her index finger and thumb. These images just wouldn’t go away, she couldn’t go about her day like this- pensive, distracted; she’d never get any work done. She slipped off the edge of the bed and pulled on a robe on her way to the bathroom, and he did the same, halfway. As he listened to the quiet hum of her sonic toothbrush, he turned and placed his feet on the warmed, tiled floor. Merric leaned over the edge of the bed with both hands on either side of him, gripping into the mattress, and turned just enough to direct the question over his shoulder. “Are you stopping by the studio this morning before work?” “Yes,” she replied earnestly as she took a brush to her hair, hands raking it through with a flustered energy before separating it into chunks to braid it loosely to one side. “So I’ll find you in the labs later today.” Something was still bothering her, he could tell by her mannerisms and how quick she was to dismiss him accompanying her. “No breakfast then?” Laila turned and peered through the door at him as she pinned her braid up into a bun at the back of her head. As he made his way across the room and turned her chin up to look at his face from the ten-inch height difference, she grinned. “Not right now, but save me some pancakes?” The man sighed and rolled his eyes as he leaned down to steal another quick kiss. “I’ll leave em’ at your workstation,” he agreed as he squeezed her upper arm softly. “We have a security briefing this morning I’ll have to get to before you’re done. We have new recruits coming in on this morning’s transit.” “Surprised they haven’t decided to comprise the guard entirely of Exos,” she commented as she twirled around the room collecting her dance leggings, chalk bag, and a tight fitted long-sleeved shirt. “But I’m more surprised they were able to find volunteers after the last accident.” Brows popped and he nodded in agreement as he pulled his shirt over his head and opened the closet. “Yeah well… Exos are efficient, but better suited to War. They don’t have the higher cognition algorithms necessary to make important judgment calls that would save lives. [i]They aren’t human[/i], so they carry out orders without regard for casualties, and with the work being done here they just can’t afford to take that chance,” he explained as he pushed around a couple hangars before pulling out a pair of slacks and an officer’s button-down shirt. [i](Continued in comments below)[/i]

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  • Edited by TehDildacorn: 3/2/2018 7:06:18 PM
    ([i]Continued from original post[/i]) A half-smile pulled into one cheek in hesitation, as if she wanted to say something. “Well… once we’ve finished developing our AI, sentience shouldn’t be a problem.” “That’s all well and good, but it may be a while before we see any truly sentient Exo,” he replied as he buttoned his shirt from the top-down; Laila’s eyes quietly lowered to the armoire in front of him in a knowing silence. “Besides,” he continued, “Clovis Bray pays well and the work is as interesting as it gets for civilian guards. Hell of a lot better than combing terminals looking for contraband or bombs.” “Mmmmm,” An understanding sound rolled in her throat as she finished dressing and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator on the far end of the room. “I can [i]only imagine[/i], sounds terrible,” she teased with a coy smile and a wink as she took a few backward steps toward the door. “Well, not that I think you will, but don’t go easy on them. They need to know the risks of Exoscience research.” Merric smirked at himself in the mirror and side-eyed her on her way out the door. “Course they do- wouldn't [i]dream[/i] of it." Laila’s hand gripped a little tighter around the handle and she swallowed hard at the word “dream” as she pulled the door shut behind her and kept her eyes on her hand, thoughts drifting back to the face in her dreams, the voice, what he’d said. [i]Helping you remember[/i], he’d said. Remember [i]what[/i]? Laila turned into the dark room and took a few steps forward on the lacquered wooden floors of the studio and stooped to set down her keys and water bottle, then stood and tapped at a keypad on the wall beside her to turn on the lights and dim them as a soft piano melody filled the room; she’d always thought better when dancing alone in the dark. Flats slipped off as she dusted the chalk between her fingers, then onto her bare feet. Already she could feel herself moving to the rhythm of the melody. One hand wrapped around the wooden railing as she stretched one leg out long up and over the bar and leaned forward over it with both hands reaching for her ankle, then back behind her head to stretch her stomach before switching to the other leg, and then her shoulders and arms. When she was satisfied with her stretches and feeling nice and limber she turned away from the wall and gazed across the room. Toes traced the floor in circles as she stepped toward the center of the room, then planted one foot flat on the ground and swung both arms up tall as she swung the other leg around, locked out long and strong, and threw herself into a controlled spin. Though she spotted the wall, after the fourth, fifth, sixth spins, the room had started to blur, and she could have sworn she was seeing… sparks of light? Flashes of crackling blades. She could almost [i]feel[/i] the light surging through her, the arc swarming, circling, colliding blade to blade. [i]KSHH, CRACK. There he was again. [/i] Leg shot back out and she almost came to a dead stop but vaulted into a leap with bent legs, one arm strong next to her ear and the other out to her side, dipped down with her upper body on the landing and tucked one leg under her as she spun around on toe, swept herself upright, and stopped to stare at her reflection in the mirror with an uneasy frown. Blue eyes stared back at her from a face she barely recognized, as if [i]it[/i] was the memory. Hands slowly lifted to her shoulders and slipped over them, up her neck, her olive cheeks, and gripped at the sides of her head. Why could she remember so much about this dream world when she couldn’t even remember the last 24 hours? [i]The wars, the people, the horrors looming in the shadows- [/i] The witch’s screams pierced her thoughts like an arrow and she flinched suddenly, pulling her arms and upper body down toward the floor, but channeled it into a fluid movement and swiveled herself around as she pranced around the room. Memory after memory flickered through her as she moved on instinct, twirling, leaping, rolling; even this was familiar. They’d called it Bladedancing. Bladedancing led back to the Shadowsmiths, the Shadowsmiths led back to Twilight Gap, Twilight Gap led back to Nik, Nik to Andal, Andal to- [i]Him. [/i] Cyan eyes stared back at her from behind the iron-sights of a hand cannon and she gasped loudly, spun and dropped to the floor as the gun went off; as her body hit the floor with a loud thud and the clatter of her necklace against the planks, she was ripped back to reality, throbbing heart and gasping for breath and all. The room came back into focus, the lights, the music, the pale blue walls… she felt so far away from it all even though she was in the moment, could feel the floor, could smell the chalk on her hands. Was this place really home? Did she belong here? [i]It felt like he was trying to tell me something[/i]. None of this made sense, and the more she thought about it, the greater the intensity of the dissociation and frustration. Why was she thinking so hard about this? Of [i]course[/i] she belonged here. [i]This[/i] is what’s real. [i]This[/i] is what’s tangible, no matter how real her dreams may have seemed. Laila sat up and gazed across the room to see Merric’s face in the window. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there or even how long she’d been there for, but it was normal for him to have stopped by on his way to his post. A small smile tugged into his fair cheeks and his eyes lingered on her for a moment more before he left, something she needed to do as well. Hands lifted to rub at her eyes with the backs of her knuckles and she stood to grab her things and shut off the lights. It was a short walk back to her living quarters, but she always managed to find herself getting lost one way or another. Laila glanced out the windows stretching the entire length of the building, out across the red sands of Mars and the towering structures dotting the horizon, multiplying by the day. It was Clovis Bray’s legacy, at the height of the Golden Age, and she was proud to be a part of it. After a quick shower to wash the chalk and sweat from her body, she threw on a skirt and blouse under her lab coat, and pulled on a pair of knee-high boots before grabbing her badge and a stack of books off of her desk in the lounge, and whisked herself out the door and down the hall in the direction opposite of where she’d been before. Freehold was busier today than it had been in years- although the civilian transport had brought new, hopeful guards, it had also brought aspiring scientists to tour the facilities, which meant an overabundance of Civilian fodder. Clamoring voices echoed down the steel-plated halls slow and sluggish, as she wove through the crowd on her way to her suite, notebooks in hand and lab coat flapping open as she brushed past a few of the wayward students. A few minutes and several long hallways later, she placed a hand on the biometric scanner and held one open eye to the retinal scan and was greeted by a digitized voice. [i]Good Morning, Dr. Essam! [/i] “Good morning, Gloria,” she replied casually as the door opened and she made her way toward her desk. [i]Shall I re-open entry 8.5.2 from where you left off yesterday? [/i] “That would be wonderful, yes please,” she replied as she moved to set her things down… but hesitated with a soft smile as she noticed the plastic box sitting on her desk beside a lidded paper cup. Laila organized her books carefully before she reached down to pull off the note, which read, [i]Pancakes, as requested, and a latte for good measure. Figured you could use it after last night. Call me when you get a chance, I’ll be at my post. [/i] “Good Morning sleepyhead,” came a friendly voice from beside her, the owner of which grinned back at her fondly from behind slim rectangular frames. “Decided to sleep in a little today?” Palms flattened against her face to hide her embarrassment as she shook her head quietly. “I had some nightmares this morning that I needed to work off…” voice trailed off as she lowered her hands and smiled with a sigh, “So I stopped by the studio before before I came in,” she admitted, eyes flickering up to meet hers. “Oh,” she frowned apologetically, the playfulness draining from her face. “I’m sorry… I hope you’re feeling better at least?” Head shook, jostling a few strands of hair loose from her braid, and she tucked them back behind her ears with two quick sweeps of her hand. “Not really… but I’ll make it through the day.” Green eyes examined her cautiously, and she reached down to tilt her chin up to force her to look at her. “Laila… you sure you’re up for this? You know we can’t start collecting brain scans unless your head’s in the right place.” Laila’s brows pressed down and together and she smiled quietly. “Eva… I’ll be fine by next week. Don’t worry.” The brunette retracted her hand and shifted her weight onto her back foot. “Alright… but please, try to take care of yourself. And if you have anything you need to work through mentally, make sure it’s taken care of before the study starts.” “Of course Dr. Larson,” she assured with a grateful smile. “I’ll drop by your office if the need arises.” [i](continued in next comment)[/i]

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