Catalysts: IC 2.0 Announcement in OP!

Unbeknownst to the sleeping Nox, the clock soon struck five thirty. Time for action. By some stroke of luck the bomb did go off, shredding the soldier sleeping above it and sending all others into chaos. The plan was going well.

Racing out to the residential areas, she used her tactic that had proven effective in taking Tyler and Kate before, drugging them with sedative and coiling back out. The process took some time, however once she heard trucks coming, she had the thirty kids she needed, all sleeping in their assigned rooms. She could begin...

Around 8:00 AM he woke up, feeling a lot better. He alked downstairs, and passing Steph cheerily said "Good morning." The bomb seemed to have worked. He continued downstairs and rooted around in the supplies he had brought. He finally found the granola bars.

She took a moment before following down and responding. "They're all set. Now I just need a decent camera, and something to keep off my appetite..." She picked up a bar and began eating it. "Wouldn't want to accidentally send the girl into my stomach rather than my snake pouch."

"I think the phone has an 8 megapixel camera, but I can track one down if need be." He shuddered at the concept of the person being digested. He twirled a little. "Notice anything different?"

She spotted the new streak in his hair. "Looks great." She paced around for a moment, touching the plants to check on their health. "Are you okay with filming it? Because I will have to swallow Kate down on camera to demonstrate, I'd prefer to not upset you with it though."

"I'm okay with filming it. If need be I can just close my eyes anyway. Very useful, that." He got the phone out of his pocket. The battery was full because he hadn't used it further than punching in his information.

She nodded, taking his hand softly. "Alright. She's sedated anyway, there'll be no struggles unlike with the soldiers." Making her way up the steps, she entered Kate's room and sedated both with a quick bite. Leaving Tyler on the bed, she placed Kate in a chair, removing her shoes and jeans. "The shirt can stay on, I don't want jeans merging into her new body."

Nox clicked the video camera on and shut his eyes. Even though he could probably handle it, it wouldn't be a pretty sight. He signed 321 and then clicked the record button, starting the video. Please get it done fast. he thought.

Closing her eyes to think, she swallowed then opened them. "Humans of the world, I stand here, because the government of this island has been conducting vicious and terrible experiments on young children and teenagers, giving them mutative powers for the purpose of militarisation. I was born this way, I grew up like any natural child, except I was subject to constant teasing and abuse. Now, as representative for the Catalysts of this island, I intend to put a stop to it. I demand that the government here be disposed of, the military disbanded, and the entirety of this island turned over to the Catalysts. There are others who would gladly begin terrorizing the civilians of your countries. If these demands are not met, I will begin to... convert the females into my own kind..."

She lifted Kate's chin to help her face the camera. "If you doubt this, then I will provide a demonstration." Releasing her chin, she arched her head back as it transformed into a snake head, matching the size of her own body. Leaning down, she began swallowing her feet and legs, rearing up once she had reached her knees. Kate slowly slid further down, when her eyes opened.

A few moments of terrible screams followed, before she vanished into Steph's mutated body. Once the struggling had passed beyond her waist, her usual form returned. "I have fifteen other girls who will be the first stage of this. Every twenty four hours, I begin again." She walked over to the camera and covered it up, turning it off before taking it in her hands. Kate's struggling continued, her supply of sedative diminished for the moment. "It's done Nox. We're on the road to victory here."

"No. We're not. You know these fools. They care about power, not people." He turned the camera back on, turning it to himself. "I'll kill you myself." He was disturbed by what he had just seen. He had always been scientific and analytical. He left the room and climbed to the roof of the hotel. Dark clouds were pouring rain. He stood on the edge, arms outstretched.

She shook her head and hurried after him. Seeing him on the edge of the building worried him deeply. "Nox, don't you get it? That was all patter, to get the public on our side. I have no intention of stopping the conversion process for the hostages anyway."

A heavy rain had begun to fall. All of a sudden, lightning arced off in the distance. "A beautiful sight, is it not? Complex yet random, terrifying yet beautiful." He turned and walked back to the door. "It ends tonight."

She smiled as she reached the edge of the building where he stood. "Not unlike myself... perhaps." She turned to face Nox as he went back to the doorway. "What do you mean ends tonight? I mean... I'd at least like to see my new guards emerge."

"Steph, I need to ask a major favor of you." He took a deep breath and continued. "Should my plan go wrong and I do not return by morning, find a catalyst named Pandora and give her my regards. Please?"

She nodded solemnly. "Of course. Just, be strong, and do your best, okay?" Hugging him tightly again, she looked out at the ocean in the far distance. An island for her kind, not just gorgons, but anyone who had been mistreated as an experiment.

"What if my best isn't good enough? They have armies; we have two catalysts and many gorgons, maybe some pissed off civilians." He sat against the wall. "Ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifteen percent pain, one-hundred percent reason to remember the name."

Steph sat down beside him for a few moments, adding up the percentages. "That's only 65% you know." She placed her arm around him, drawing him closer for comfort. "Your best is your best, it will always be good enough, you just need to believe it." She placed a hand on her stomach, glancing down at the bulge where Kate was now sleeping. "If you need to, go ask Melanie about pleasure, from what I can tell she's great at thinking puzzles. As for the rest, just believe that you can do this."

"Dammit, I meant fifty!" This reduced him to fits of laughter. When he had finally regained his composure, he spoke again. "This is a new world, Steph. There just isn't much to believe in. For all we know our gods know they fucked up."

She closed her eyes again, letting her head snakes curl around Nox's head. "I can't say I follow Athena like my ancestor did. But what I can say is that you're better off believing in a better world but dying while trying to achieve it, than believing it's all over and dying alone, with no-one to remember you. I'm behind you with this, whatever the cost."

"I know you back me, and I'm grateful. But it just seems useless now. They just tightened their grip. I'm willing to fight, but without a miracle or help from god we are outmanned and outgunned. The only advantage we have is our powers."

She nodded again, drawing him closer to her. "It's our powers that separate us from them." She paused to think. Something was nagging in her mind. "Come to think of it, I don't believe I was told what your power is. Must be something spectacular given how effective you've been so far."

"Nothing special. In darkness I have heightened senses, greater endurance, and more strength. I'm more acrobatic, and I can form a protective 'aura' and fight better at the cost of stamina. I'm useless in daytime." He sighed. "I sin'g know yours, beyond being a gorgon."

She shrugged softly. Hunter of the darkness, that explained quite a lot. "I'm more of a mutation than power wielder. I guess I can assimilate people at a slow rate, and they in turn can do the same. It adds up given enough time." Her eyes closed again as she relaxed her arm around Nox. "We can beat them, given enough time. At the very least that video will get people talking. In the meantime we just have to keep them occupied, at least we've got a secure place below."

He agreed with the "biding time" bit. He read a very recently stolen newspaper. "Provate labs recombine dodo DNA, eggs produced." He smiled. The happiest animal on the planet was coming back. The thought was a happy one, since the little buggers were so cute.