Catalysts: IC (Oh the thread is slowly dying...)

Nox stuck his thumb to the side in the way of the roman emperors. He deliberated on the decision. To let her live would leave a job undone. To kill her would cause problems. He twitched his thumb down a couple of degrees twice, a fluke, and then stuck it up. He was agreeing. For now.

PEACE IS PROGRESS

CALL FOR JUSTICE

THEY NEED YET ABUSE US

The trick was getting people to notice without riling them up to the point of violence, as that would simply result in dead followers. As she worked, moving from wall to wall in various nocturnally-active parts of the ruined metropolis, Winter began to brainstorm her next step.

To write on walls was one thing, but most people would be too afraid to act. She would have to show courage, give the people a leader they could get behind. Perhaps some public speaking, followed by a speedy exit, would be in order?

Once she could get the word around, get people talking (as papers and broadcasts were heavily censored), she stood a chance of gaining supporters. After that, she would need to organize meetings - secret affairs where she would be able to talk freely, convert the curious to the devoted, and perhaps gain allies.

Only when Winter had gained the allegiance of a vast majority of citizens could she begin organizing strikes, and it would be difficult to do so as the threat of death, torture, or worse loomed high. Maybe Nox and Ragnarok were right... maybe violence really is the way to go. I could lead hordes of innocent to their deaths.

But it didn't have to turn out like that... there had to be a better way, and Winter would find it. Small steps.

She found herself in front of an abandoned subway station, ancient tunnels barely intact. It was doubtless that a great number of vagrants and rogue lurked in the invisible depths, safe from the oppression of the outside world. Winter grimaced at this thought and was about to set to work with a fresh can of spray paint when suddenly an idea struck her. She entertained the thought for a moment, and decided to attempt it.

I need more practice anyways. Holding the small canister in both hands, Winter focused. The initial mental trigger clicked into place surprisingly easily this time. She felt past the metal container, casting her mind about for the substance inside...

A moment later, the can began to wriggle, shake, dance about in her hands, as if some great beast was trapped inside. Struggling to keep the yearning object under control, Winter redouble her efforts...soon, she saw that she was leaving sticky white handprints on the canister.

Keeping the wildly jerking cylinder in her left hand, Winter did her best to cap her energy transfer and extended her - now quite pale and drippy - index finger towards the concrete wall. She felt a peculiar numbing sensation as she dragged her hand along the rough surface, leaving a perfectly white trail of paint.

In a much shorter amount of time, she was able to scrawl the usual string of messages. Peace is progress. Hope for the future. Spread the word.

"That should save me some paint," Winter said aloud, proud of both her ingenuity and self-control - this was the longest period of vivification she had managed to sustain yet, excepting the fire incident which she would rather not think about right now. Winter dropped the paint canister, which abruptly ceased its horrible contractions and rolled away. At the same time, Winter's hand regained its full solidity, though with a peculiar difference.

The entire limb was still very pale. She attempted to move it, and found nothing but dull, numb throbbing and unresponsiveness - touching it revealed startling cold. Fortunately, the condition appeared to be reversing itself, though as Winter flexed her rapidly-recovering arm she herself felt quite faint.

It was then that she noticed the change in the streaks of white paint on the wall. Slowly yet unmistakably, dark stains of red spread across the letters' surface, and dripped down the concrete. The transmogrification from spraypaint into the missing ounces of Winter's blood took only about thirty seconds.

Winter stared at the abominable writing for many a moment before she could form coherent thoughts, it horrified her so. I... guess... that's a BAD idea, then...

She kicked the offending paint can as she strode away, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder.

Feeling warmed enough, Aran stood up and took his sword-staff, and began intensive training. He swung with control, with deadly accuracy, and with even more force. Each swing of his left behind an orange line, perhaps from the energy he was imbuing into his weapon. Each time he swung, the line became more jagged, like lightning. He did not begin to sweat, nor did patterns of his breathing show any difference.

"That is of course, if she wants even the slightest promise at death... Otherwise she'll be stuck in eternal immortality. Now then, shall we retreat to the subway for planning? Oh yes, and we're kidnapping bloom.. No doubt she'll attempt to fight against us if we start changing everyone."

He sighed and expected Nox to attack suddenly, preparing himself for such an attack by kunai or katana. But then he took back the extra power and sensed Winter down in the ancient subway.

"Damnit. We gotta get her NOW."

Nox stained his hand with some blood from one of the many pools around. He marked on the wall, leaving a claret message. "God is dead. The new rapture is coming. Expect us." That was perfect! Vaguely threatening, with an air of defiance. The squatters would respect them far more than they would someone speaking if "Hope." There was no hope. Only a radical movement would amount to anything.

Ragnarok tapped Nox's shoulder then winked at Pandora.

"I'll seeya later cutey, got another girl to go ahead and bother. Kidnappings and whatnot.."

With that he ran off towards the old subway, slowing his steps as he neared where he had sensed winter. He turned the corner and stared at her then made an ungodly screeching noise to bother her, before pulling a gun.

"You idiot! Hope is DEAD. There is only the new movement! Radical movement will get us somewhere! Your 'hope' will do nothing! I'm going to replace ALL humanity with Catalysts! And if you get in my way, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you...."

Nox turned awkwardly towards Pandora. "So... What's up?" Now he could attempt to ally himself with her. She seemed a useful and powerful ally. Even if she wanted to die. That could be talked out. They could even be friends.

"I will do what I like, but for now, I think perhaps I will help you... if you tell me what to do, I will do it, so long as it does not conflict with my morals." she smiled, and said "few though they may be."

"That's good. We need all the fighters we can muster. I assume you are familiar with guerrilla warfare?" There was no way she wasn't. For her to have bombed the train station and run required quite a bit of knowledge. And she had managed to evade them for so long. She met them on her terms. That was actually respectable. Nox thought a minut. Then he extended his hand to her. "I say we settle this petty conflict now. Shall we?"

Winter jumped at the screech, spinning on her heels to locate the source of such a sound. She groaned both inwardly and outwardly as the regrettably-familiar figure of Ragnarok loped towards her. How the hell does this guy keep finding me.

She halted her stride and crossed her arms. "Look, mate, you've already had my answer. I really don't have time for this." Briefly, Winter considered making a run for it - the years of running had not been pleasant to her mentality, but they'd been quite kind to her stamina - but her only escape route was the pitch-black subway tunnel, and Winter did not fancy her chances of evasion in there, let alone finding her way out again.

So Winter stood. "I'd be more than happy to stay out of your way if only you'd leave me be," she said with as much sarcasm as her irritated yet frightened self could muster - one encounter with the man had taught her enough about how dangerous he was, and his moral blindness did in no way ease her nerves.

His eyes became bloodshot -- and I mean bloodshot. The red veins touched his irises through his sclera as he twitched and fired a round nearby her head looking down at the ground. Damn his morality..

"I'm really saying join us... Because of the project we've set up... Your efforts will be made futile when we succeed... So instead of wasting your time, join us. You don't understand.. what the others are.. capable of.. Just join us!"

He shouted. His mind was bugging back to the people he remembered.

"We were created by some divine artificer as more powerful than humans for a fucking reason! There's no point in saving them through peace; the effort hardly ever works because humans have a higher capacity for fear than they do bravery. Sure you can fool them with the safety in numbers; but that doesn't always work. It sure as hell didn't save six million Jews, who did nothing wrong other than be something Hitler deemed impure.."

Winter was determined not to show emotion, yet she could not help but flinch at the gunshot. What is this guy trying to prove?

"You claim the victims of the Holocaust did nothing wrong -yet you then talk of extermination, against an even larger demographic? You're as wrong about people as you are hypocritic. They deserve more than replacement. I'd have thought your time in the... camp would have taught you the value of life."

She lifted her chin. "And my efforts may turn out to be futile, but if every project was assumed a failure before its initiation, what would be the point of effort of any sort? It is my duty to at least make an attempt to protect the innocent, and that is why I will never, ever join you." Dammit, what the hell am I doing, he could kill me right here.

He stood with purpose and walked towards her, his shoes clacking down against the ground with every step before putting the gun directly on her chin, his eyes mad with a fury at the claim he was a hippocrite.

"Oh? I'm killing them am I? No, fool, I'm finding out how to spread the Catalysts in a humane way; I'm not going to lock them up. And I'm not killing them either, I'm making them unique yet part of the same group. If you will cast your lot away from mine, I'm afraid you WILL become a problem; and sadly for you, I far outrank you with danger... I'm practically immortal.. You however can die, very. Very. Easily."

He attempted one last time to scare her; then after would have to make a decision dependent on her answer. Would he kill her? Or would he let her waste her effort trying to rally humans when the catalysts would undoubtedly replace them all?

Doing her best to suppress the quaking fear that threatened to show itself, Winter managed to channel enough determination into her voice to stop it from cracking - no small feat, given her current situation. "Oh? And why is this? I thought you were an agent of balance, yet you seek to create chaos? How can so many Catalysts coexist peacefully? You will damn us to anarchy, and there is no guarantee we will better off with it. People as ambitious as yourself will replace the government with the power you will give them, and worsen this nightmare."

"I will not fight you; I seek only to rid us of this tyrannical Government, a goal you seem to share. What quarrel do you have with me until that objective is completed?"

Ragnarok couldn't believe it; this woman DAMNING anarchy?

"It's quite a simple thing... They will make a group; we're going to look for the future and advance ourselves further. Small factions leading groups which will not war... It's all simple.. Please.. Please just come along with me. Don't make me have to kill you.. I'll just take you chained up to the Sub. And there we can interrogate you and your foolish.. foolish goals."

"How can you say you can control them, keep them from fighting eachother and remaining organized, when you yourself seek only violence? I can't follow you, Ragnarok. To do so would be against my morals. Why do you refuse to let me go? If everything goes according to your plan, and your utter revocation of my success is in the least bit justified, then I will be of no hindrance to you, yes?"

Winter sighed, and when next she spoke, it was quiet, without anger. Think. Fighting Ragnarok physically is out of the question... how can you beat him? "I just want peace. The picture you paint of a future, balanced society is... attractive, but I simply can't agree with the morality of bestowing Catalysm on throngs of people against their will. Surely our powers necessitate some degree of responsibility?"

"The problem of it is the conflict will continue into POST-catalysts; We intend to destroy the military as much as possible before spreading it. And to hell with your morals; what? Human kindness? Even the kindest person has their sins. Gandhi, Joan of Arc, hell even Leonardo da Vinci!"

He sighed and listened to her quiet statement, before chuckling.

"It's quite simple; what is it that starts wars? Differences; in this way, we can be different yet the same. Unique, yet unified. It's the most responsible thing I can think of doing at all... Now tell me; why would it be so wrong to bestow peace, even if a bit of chaos is necessary at first? A little bit of chaos every now and then is a good thing.."

"Maybe it's best I take a rest for the day.." He said to himself, after counting and practicing many forms of the sword-staff. His energy well-spent, he had to save the rest for hunting. His stomach grumbled loudly... Did he dare go out and risk being seen again, only to get chased further away? Or will he hunt more of the wildlife around here? Perhaps it was safer to hunt around here, and so he decided upon it. He didn't want to get chased out of his somewhat safe haven.

His hands slid up upon the middle of the staff, and he twisted it, a little click sound could be heard. It was very much like a key unlocking a door, one of the old keys of course. He pulled it apart, separating the two. The part with the piece was slightly longer than the staff/sheath for the somewhat large blade. Turning the staff part around, there was a slit for where the blade would go. He sheathed it in, making a shiiing! sound. he then secured it on his belt buckle near the bag that held the teacup, and he made his way out into the forest, the fire still going.

"Meals...Some real good food." he said quietly.

"To refute kindness simply because unkindness exists would be the same as shunning the light because the other side of the world is darkened. Morality lies in recognizing one's sins and atoning for them, as I imagine such figures as Ghandi and Joan of Arc have done... but ordinary people have, too. They can be saved, and deserve such a gift - even the ones who would gladly kill us, for what right have we to judge?"

The tension inside of her began to ease; perhaps she could walk away from this confrontation as friends, even if such a relationship were uneasy and short-lived. "I know it seems like differences start conflicts, but in truth, it is not our differences themselves that initiate war; rather, it is each party's unwillingness to accept the differences of their fellows. Intolerance leads to hate, which in turn leads to violence. But the type of uniqueness you intend to bestow upon the population will only exacerbate conflict."

"They didn't atone; Gahndi died a heretic, Joan slept with many men without repetence. You know the truth deep down; we were made surperior by some god-given miracle. So why not just bring humanity into the next step? We can't evolve through natural means anymore, we lost that with agriculture... So then.. I'm afraid this ends in one of two ways. One way, you simply bend in to partial chaos; you're a useful person and rather cute. The other, sadly, I intend to battle you to the death... I warn you... I can take ALL your energy. Unlike last time.."

He knew this was a bluff; he really cared about Winter and didn't want her dead. But sadly, he had to make sure she was protected. The military would snuff her out and kill her almost immediately for her struggle, once a large enough force (approx. half the city's workforce) exsisted. And without leaders, people worried. It was this way since Sumerians.

Cute...? The fuck? Winter sighed. "You don't get it. We're exactly the same as them, Ragnarok, only we have power. To give power to the immoral, as you claim humanity to be, would be foolish. But to me, humanity is void of definition, as its members are more varied than one could ever put into words. We've been gifted; it's our responsibility not only to lead, but to lead with the knowledge that we are not above our followers - for that is what makes a true ruler. I will not serve to you, Ragnarok, but please... there must be another way."

I'd rather this not get ugly - he could simply shoot me if I make a move. Same for escape. Perhaps joining him wouldn't be so bad...?

She grimaced internally at this thought. He'd never let me leave.

"I think myself not a master; I am a true catalyst amongst Catalysts. And you've seen what this evolution's done.. It's made us wiser. When you can view things from a stance of power, is your view not changed..? No, I digress. Again my point stands; You can join our little league of catalysts, or I can forcefully take you, possibly even having to kill you..."

He sighed with pain at her internal disarray.

"Yes yes, escape and there's a bullet in your brain. Assume I won't let you leave, just because of my attraction to you. When you assume, you make an ass out of 'u' and 'me.' Remember that?"

"All intelligence has brought humanity is more efficient ways to kill eachother. Animals will fight and play just as we will, even form packs, but you don't see them exterminating eachother en masse for some... glorious purpose. If we were truly wiser, we would condemn our guns to the furnace and speak to our enemies instead."

She raised an eyebrow. "And mate, rest assured that you really do not have to worry about any apparent attractions ever factoring into my decisions."

"While we would condemn our guns, they would prepare theirs to kill us.. It's just too much. My theory is quite simple. In the same way the former of our evolutionary paterns were less intellectual of the world around us, evolving all humanity into catalysts will up our intelligence allowing us to put aside violence. And, sadly, this is not the case with the both of you."

Damn ice queens..

He smiled weakly at her, his eyes full of hope that she'd follow his logic. At this distance they could both tell each detail about the other's face; eye colour, markings, etc.

"Which is proof enough how stupid our entire race is..." Winter said this not with malice, but rather weakly, as if the fact saddened her to some degree. She looked away, suddenly uncomfortable, and the strength returned to her voice. "Power does not bring wisdom - intellectually, we are no better than they are."

Winter frowned suddenly, and, partially confused, looked back at Ragnarok. "What do you mean, 'the both of you?' Me and who else?"