Catalysts: IC 2.0 Announcement in OP!

4:30AM. She found herself waking unexpectedly, as if it were triggered. In a way it was, half an hour to get ready for the fireworks, and to kidnap thirty teenagers. Pairing could be sorted later, a quick cut would deliver sedative to them. Making her way to the window, she took the moment to admire the early morning city.

Morning. Damn. The sun would rise soon. Nothing to do now but hold down the fort. He went back down into the lobby and took out the book. The rattlesnake soon also slithered in, flicking the air with its tongue. He walked behind the desk and spread his hand on the desk. He began a "knife trick," stabbing once in the space between each finger in a cycle. He heard someone opening the door in the gloom.

She headed down to the lobby in anticipation, stopping by the cocoons to check on them. The soft surface had hardened down to a leathery texture. Continuing on, she made sure the human rooms were prepared before finally arriving in the lobby. Nox was occupying himself behind the desk. "It's just about time, just getting ready to go. Won't have a chance like this again."

As the man entered the door he pulled Steph out of sight. He put his finger to his lips. The man began to loot and steal. Nox stood up. "Stop."
The man spun around, asking, "Who the hell are you?"
Nox drew the sword. "Security."

Steph rolled her eyes. "Nox, the mist is alright to Catalysts, but if he's human and he's not leaving, he should be keeling over any time now..." She slid into view, smiling curtly at the stranger. Now was her moment to enjoy herself, toying with an intruder in her own domain. She had all the cards for once. "Speak... and I may not eat you..."

He jumped over the desk. Afterwards, he touched the tip of the sword to the man's chest. He circled around him, leaving tiny nicks in his torso. He was just about mocking the man. "Well? What will it be?"

She rolled her eyes again and opened the door. "Tell your friends that the gorgon girl has this place. I do eat people, males more for taste than... other purposes." She glanced at Nox who also had him covered. If he was an infiltrator however... No, he was going straight for the cashier.

"Actially, I've had enough of robberies." Nox impaled him, taking care not to damage any internal organs. "Do we have any chain or rope? We need to make an example of this idiot." He looked down. The robber had collapsed, clutching his stomach. Nox calmly wiped the blood off the blade.

She sighed and leaned down, cutting her wrist with a knife and pressing it to the wound. "It's sedative, hope you say thank you later for this." She coiled her body around him and wiped her hand on his shirt. Waiting for him to pass out, she released his body again. "I'll make an opening for the plants to grow out of, they'll keep him healthy, but restrained better than any lunatic asylum."

"Thank you for the help." He looked at her cut wrist. "Are you okay? Most people don't even survive that." He began to look for bandages, which would be necessary to stop the bleeding. Maybe even a tourniquet.

She shrugged it off. "It'll heal up soon enough. Much longer lifespan, very tough immune system, increased healing rate. As I said, upgrade to the human physiology for scales and snakes." Patting him with her clean hand, she wrapped the man up in her coils again and brought him outside. Gouging out a bit of the wall, she rested him against it and dusted her hands. "The plants will grow through and ensnare him momentarily."

Nox breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god his basically younger sister wasn't badly hurt. "You had me worried for a moment there, sis." He hoped she didn't mind the comparison to a sister. Of course, she was almost like a sister to him.

She closed her eyes ever so briefly. How close had she been to creating a very awkward distance between them? "It runs through my blood, developed immunity to the sleeping quality of it ages ago. Takes away the pain just as good though." Returning to the building she lay down on the lounge. Lounges, she needed to invest more time in choosing them.

"During the day I'm useless outside. I think I'll patrol inside the hotel, stop in and say hello to everyone. Meet and greet, maybe go back to sleep. Chaos should begin in, say, thirty minutes. Maybe less. Or the bomb might not go off."

"Alright." She got up once more and watched through the doorway. As many kids as possible. She already had a fair idea in mind about who the pairs would be, not like they kept it a big secret or anything. The problem was ensuring that they were whole pairs, losing one or the other would be a difficulty.

"I'll be going now. Bye, sis." He gave her a quick reassuring hug. He stooped down to pick up the rattlesnake, letting it get situated around his left arm. He then turned and entered the hotel, walking past rooms and up stairs. He finally got to the floor where Steph had said her sister was. He picked and knocked on a random door.

Melanie flicked her eyes open, pushing the cupboard doors open. It was all ready now. A smaller room for herself, where the plants would grow into. In the middle was a table, covered in vines all over. A pool of water would have been preferable, but it wasn't available. Making her way over to the door, she opened it. "Hello?"

"Hello. I'm gonna be sticking around higher up for a bot, and I just wanted to say hello. It's always better to know the people you're around, right?" He smiled, hoping to make a good first impression. First impressions were, of course, vital.

She looked at him with a blank expression. Just about to go into hibernation... then interruptions. "I see..." She turned to look at her room. "Well, uhm, I was going to hibernate for the time being. If there's... anything you need me for, just do something that'll cause a strong reaction and I'll wake up. I'm Melanie by the way."

"Sorry for interrupting, Melanie. I'll be on my way. See you around, I guess." At that he ascended the stairs and went to his room. Once there he began to look for something to do. Finding nothing, he went back down to the lobby to look for more books to read.

She shrugged her shoulders and returned to the room. Either he was already in with Steph or waiting for someone else. Didn't matter much anyway, she had made a point of avoiding any human males put into her enclosure. Most likely they had diseases which made them a small loss.

He dug around unsuccessfully, and gave up. He decided to go up and go to sleep. He had missed many nights an days and his schedule was messed up. He needed to sleep, to regain some normalcy. He had grown paler. He then decided on something. He searched for a while in all the top floor medicine cabinets. He then found it. After a short time he had a black streak running down part of his hair.

She circled the table for a few minutes, examining her resting place. It was quite large to accomodate her whole body. Hopefully Nox would do something other than reach in as a means to wake her. Not that she'd mind anyway... Pulling herself up, she lay back against the pillowing plants, and closed her eyes.

He was quite satisfied with his work. But now he had to sleep. Returning to his room, he lay down on the bed, allowing the rattlesnake to go off to its own devices. He turned on his iPod's speakers for some white noise.

Her eyes closed, breathing in a large dose of the mist to fill her lungs and give her strength. It was just about time. The suspense was filling the air, making her suck her chest in tightly. Slithering down onto the steps, she waited for the thump that would mark her signal...