The Underworld discussion

Melanie strutted into the mess hall, ignoring the chatter and crossing over to a desk where a woman sat behind it lazily.

"Up the quota to 4," she said smoothly.

"What?!"

"Came from Father."

The woman silenced, and Melanie turned back to Koi.

"Have you thought about what you'd like to have Father do yet?" she asked him patiently.

"Enhancement," she said blankly. Sensing his confusion she allowed her skin to become translucent, giving light the machinery beneath.

"Like me," she said, "Or bodily enhancements like him."

Hinoko strolled in in her small lioness form. She curled up at the foot of Koi's chair and purred.

Hinoko sensed his unease and just continued to purr

Hinoko, annoyed with only being able to change into a lion shifted into her human form and left to go find Adrian.

"Well," she said, "Apparently he can make that."

She gestured to herself.

"Or you can have the same as me," she said, "Daemon seemed particularly enthusiastic about my own enhancements."

She arched a brow.

"But we watched you for months before bringing you down here," she told him, "I'm not sure this particular thing would suit you. I mean, for all its perks, you can still be turned off at the touch of a button."

"For many months," she said, unabashed, "It's the same with all of our residents. You are not merely randomly selected pieces of meat. The entry criteria is highly specific in fact."

She smiled.

"We're the most powerful force in the world," she promised him, "The world just doesn't know it yet."

"Yes," she replied, "Everyone here was chosen to be so."

She showed him his profile.

"Many residents are often surprised to find we know more about them than they know about themselves," she said smugly.

"If we forget history," she said, "We are doomed to repeat it."

She smiled.

"I like to remind myself of how innocent, naive and weak I was once upon a time so that I can look at how amazing I have become in comparison," she said, "Of course, I still have a long way to go."

"You're naive and weak in my eyes never mind your own," she told him, "But that, my child, is why we have Adrian Fallon."

She lifted a long fingered hand.

"Which brings us back to the topic of what you want," she said, "Forget your inhibitions - if he hasn't done it before, he'll find a way so don't worry about that."

"What?" she asked, "You're content with being human? If you had the option to enhance yourself, would you not?"

She smiled proudly.

"The wondrous mind of our Father allows for us to know no limits," she told him, "We can be whatever we want to be. I wanted to be indestructible, and alas, as I continue with my upgrades I will one day fulfill that dream."

"Not all of us," she said, "In fact, many opt out of being a cyborg. It has few drawbacks but they are fairly severe. You can be whatever you want to be. Limitless."

"Take your time," she told him, "There is no real rush. Some residents even prefer to stay human, though I believe it is a waste of an unbelievable opportunity."

((Don't forget Adrian >.<))

She nodded again, looking down at her tablet.

"Your bunker number is 17, bed 4," she told him, "But as it is the middle of the day I expect it will be fairly noisy - are you a light sleeper?"

She gave him a smile that never reached her eyes.

"All the matters I attend to are important," she told him with a sigh.

((#forgotten xP))

She gave him an amused look.

"I'm not depressed," she promised him, "I was before I came here, but I'm better now. Then again, no one will be happy until Father has taken control."

"I am discontent with life, reality and this world, Koi," she told him straightly, "That is why I'm here. Why you're here. We're going to take it for ourselves and fashion a new world, according to us. To what is right."

((I ship it))

((Why are we not surprised?))

"Perhaps he did feed it to me," she told him, "But all I know is that I was on the verge of oblivion before he did so. There are no dreams down here, only hope and the only one you can place it in his him. He told me once he'd take the world as his own - I really hope so. Or you'll have savages like Stiles ruling forever more."

She nodded.

"This is a revolution."

((Crap, sorry, lost this in the notifications))

She smiled and rolled at her eyes, appreciating the respect.

"Don't worry about it," she told him, "You're allowed to ask questions, after all, I have an answer for every one."

She scowled. "They ran off early. Adrian's idea no doubt, but yes they have ascended to the Surface, leaving me here with that freak prisoner. But continue?"

She grimaced. "I would have gone with him, it's usually the two of us, or three including the Brother but..."

She pursed her lips in consideration. "Between you and me, he didn't want to leave his little freak unguarded. Stiles has escaped before."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. That said, she admired his audacity.

"Yes," she confirmed, "I won't go into the technicalities too much, but he's known Adrian since Adrian was practically a child. Since before the Underworld was ever constructed. He's one of the reasons we came down here. Capturing him is a great feat, but we don't know whether he'll hold - unbreakable as he is."

She shook her head.

"Sorry, Adrian is Father in case you were wondering."

"He's a very powerful and malicious man," she said, "Has the world like puppets on a string. Not to mention he seduced Adrian when he was a mere 13 years old all so he could get to his father. Adrian's parents are dead now. It's a very personal crime, if I do say so myself."

"It's not really any problem," she told him, "Just don't say anything to Adrian. It doesn't bother him, but it will give him a reason to dislike you. And I'm good thank you, I'm not a very big eater."

She smiled in amusement. He was very formal wasn't he? She arched an eyebrow.

"Is that your grimoire?" she inquired, "We were hoping you'd bring that with you."

Her eyes widened considerably. An enhanced human who Adrian hadn't tampered with. She yearned to see what would happen once the Father had indeed altered him.

She glanced around. He was chanting...

Her eyes sparkled for a moment in a childish fashion that often came over her when she was in Adrian's lab. She nodded at him.

"Sounds like my type of spell," she said with a smile, "So long as you fix what you break, of course."

Her eyes lit up even more. "I'm a cyborg, it would take more than a collapsed room to crush me. And Adrian can suck on it, I'm mad at him anyway. Go go, do it!"

Melanie gaped, her mouth in a perfect 'o' shape, he eyes wide. She froze, unmoving as everything exploded around her.

"That was..." she started, "That was..."

She blinked.

"That was brilliant," she said straightly, "All of that is innate? Perhaps we could make you even more powerful. I shall have to consult Ade about it. Oh my, think of the possibilities. You could do so much more than this, think of all the things you could blow up!"

She waved her hands. "Fix it before it caves in."

She began to ramble again. "Was that a simple spell? It seemed so basic but then BOOM."

She smiled with uncharacteristic excitement.

"It's wonderful," she said, "You're like someone who stepped out of Final Fantasy. Say whatever you like about Stiles, Adrian is going to love you."

She calmed down, arching an eyebrow at him.

"You doubt me?" she asked, "Well I am certainly impressed at any rate."

((Armani?))

((Knew I'd lost something))

She nodded. "I know, even if I didn't already know about you. You'd be able to guess by the way you talked. And second son or not, you were the one chosen by Adrian, not your brother. No compliment you receive here will be a lie. There are no lies down here, it's forbidden."

"You're very well spoken," she pointed out, "And old fashioned too. You carry a rather aristocratic air about you, and I'm fairly intuitive."

"You sound like Adrian when he was fifteen," said Melanie, her face twisted in apprehension, "Stop. Really. Your words are fine, don't worry about the others. We have a lot of young blood down here."

"You don't have to keep apologizing," she told him, "You haven't done anything wrong. Haven't you noticed yet, I always have something to say?"

She shook her head, she was being an arsehole again but seriously, the guy was trying to show her his apparently extensive knowledge of slang words.

She smiled back, her smile oddly warm. "I would have said he gave too much credit. And he's the new Brother, that is if he can live through it. Brother is a difficult and dangerous position, we wouldn't normally give it to a newbie but the previous Brother and all his successors were killed. Lost during the capture of Stiles."

((Okidoki, no worries))

She laughed. "It will take me a while to warm up to Daemon. I'm still grieving over the loss of our last Brother, and as Adrian is away it gives me time to get everything into better order. He gets angsty if things become too hectic, but it's hard work trying to keep everything under control when making sure he doesn't fly off the handle."

She shook her head. "No time to relax, I'm afraid, this is a war after all. Even as I'm stood here talking to you, my computer system is working through Adrian's blueprints."

"I catered it to suit me," she said, "But most inventions you see down here are mostly the work of Father. The base of them anyway, I occasionally like to tweak them a little. That said, I'm a medic, I'm not much of a mechanic."

She nodded. "Aside from being Adrian's mommy, it's my official job to overlook it. I was in medical school before I came down here."

She laughed outright. "Not literally - Adrian is older than me. I meant it figuratively of course. The guy is a genius, but he'd die from exhaustion if I wasn't there to make him go to bed."

Suddenly, she paled.

"Wait do I look that old?" she asked quickly, oh no oh no oh no.

((FINALLY YOU SPEAK))

((xP ugh I was wondering where you went jegus christ almighty STRIKE GDI))((Jk jk don't kill me D:))

((Aww kaos you coulda said something))

((Strike has awful time management and has a knack for losing her roleplays in a slur of notifications because she has far to many. Gomen))

Melanie visibly calmed once more. "Oh thank Lucifer, I almost had a heart attack. If that were at all possible anymore."