Catalysts: IC 2.0 Announcement in OP!

Releasing her growing hold on him, she slithered around the rooftop for several minutes, going through her mind about what could be done. Even with the added support of gorgons consuming women to create more would leave them outnumbered against the males. So many of the Catalysts she had seen earlier had fled, including Ragnarok. That had to change.

He went back to his room, and did something he hadn't done for a while. He prayed. Kneeling by the window, he prayed for help. Dear god, I know you don't discriminate. You won't pick sides. But please give me the strength to at least persevere, to help our movement.

Returning to her room, she sat down for several more minutes, staring across the balcony at the ruined city. The video was already uploading, edited properly to ensure that it couldn't be declared a hoax. It wasn't like the military would care about several documents being made public given the pain Nox was giving them. Finally, she got up, and making her way over to the DVD system, turned the power off.

"This place won't be big enough, or safe enough... We need to move to larger grounds, places not visible from the air. Soon, soon..."

He sat in the darkness. He tried to melt away. Nothing mattered- or existed, other than the slow, steady rythym of his breathing. Not even the ground below him, or the ceiling above him. And so he waited.

Continuing to pace, she ran through her mental notes of the island. The caves to the south were too obvious, and on top of that rather inaccessible. The station was too expansive for effective plant coverage as well. No, she couldn't move around now, not when they were in a tedious position. If they needed more room to accommodate the increasing rate of conversions, then she could spread the plants. For the moment, the hotel would satisfy.

It would now most likely be close to dark. He stood up and walked out into the hallway. "Steph, I'm heading out." He began to walk down the stairs. Make molotov cocktails, burn as much as possible, run. They will know we're serious.

She shrugged and wandered around the room for a bit more. It was oddly quiet now, given that just days ago she'd witnessed a very intense battle. Now... "No problem, Nox..." She sighed and returned to her room, doing something she hadn't done in a long while.

Waiting in the mirror was a big surprise. Her entire body was now scaled, despite having resumed humanoid form. No problem. Tugging on a pair of jeans, she had a bit of trouble doing the button up underneath the bulge. Switching to a pair with a larger waist, much to her dismay, she simply went barefoot and hurried to follow after Nox.

He heard her following. "No. You can't come. It's too dangerous. If you want to help, could you please get me some alcohol in glass bottles and some rags?" She couldn't come along. If they both died Ragnarok would have no one left in this world who he was close to.

She ignored his protests about not coming, ducking over to one side to grab a pack of vodka before returning. "I can't do anything else back at the hotel. Kate's out in her cocoon, I'm not in the mood to begin again, and..." She took a series of breaths to calm herself again. "Please, I can help."

"I'm sure you can. But both of us dying is too great of a risk." He paused to recall his plan, then continued. "I'm going to the most populated area of the city and burning it down. All of it. Indiscriminately. There is a very real chance that I will die."

She shrugged and continued following. "If I die, cut off my head and the children will be born. The strongest of the guards will come to take them back, Mel will continue to grow them in her hibernation. As for me..." She patted his shoulder and continued walking. "Being ready is an ancient instinct, it'll work out I assure you."

He bared his teeth and hissed, not a reptilian sort, but almost catlike. "Steph! I am NOT letting you come with me! You could die, or worse, get captured! There is no plan! There never was! We are NOT safe and we are sure as hell not going together!"

She rolled her eyes and resumed her gorgon form. Being human had restored her sensible mind oh yes, but it took away her strength. "Nox, you can't go in alone. You'll die with no-one to get you out. We go in together, we go out together." She turned in a circle for a few moments as she pondered on how to continue. "I can get through tight spaces in a flash, surely that's gotta help."

"Steph. Please. You're not going. You'll stay and be safe. Please. I can get myself out of anything I get into. You can't go. It's too dangerous. You can't die out there." He was getting a little hysterical. He needed to calm down- he knew that- but he couldn't.

She folded her arms stubbornly. "You're going to torch a few buildings, how is that too dangerous? It's not like a few bullets will kill me anyway." She still paused in her advance. Her determination to continue on was quickly fading away.

"Because it's town goddamn center, that's why! This is AIMED for a civilian death toll! I am TRYING to kill people! I'll have stirred the hornet's nest, can't you see?" He sat down. This argument might last longer than expected.

She threw her arms out and turned away. Massacre a bunch of civilians, why not? "Fine, win us this island by making us the last two living people on it, that's some victory. Good luck with that." Turning back, she slithered away at just the right speed to enforce her state of being upset.

"The point isn't termination! It's terror! Anyone can throw a brick at a cop, but a man dead in his home draws attention! It's saying 'We're returning the favor!' They killed out civilians for so long, it's time to give them the bitter taste of their own medicine!"

She closed her eyes as she paused for a moment. "You don't get it, Catalysts don't have civilians, we have individuals. That is our main flaw, we don't have unity. Just... go do what you want, once Kate is out, the kids are next. I'll need some people for them to absorb in the meantime." She continued on her path with no hesitation.

"Dammit, the ones tested on we're civilians! The unfairly executed!" He realized this was getting nowhere. "I'm going now. I'll be back by morning, so help me god." At that he walked outside onto the wind that had picked up when the storm left.

Raiding a hideout for dirty thieves who looted the abandoned city, she muttered angrily as their withered husks fell away. She was allowed to do what she wanted, if that meant delivering the kids without Ragnarok present, then that's what she'd do. Making her way into the hotel, she ignored the contractions as they began. Kate was coming first, payback for all the snarky comments given over the years.

He crept through the woods, watching for police this time. Within the hours of one and two he had made it to the populated city. He walked into the square. He pulled out the first bottle and lit it. He threw it at a parked car. So far so good.

Shaking her head slightly as Kate fully emerged, she turned and positioned her in the alcove, wincing now as the contractions continued. Her skin had stretched somewhat from the sudden growth, but she couldn't stand it anymore. Nox had become over protective, she wanted to be out there fighting for freedom.

He threw the next Molotov cocktail at a large building. The splattered alcohol burst into flames. He threw the third into a glass window of an apart ment complex. Suddenly, a police officer rushed him with a nightstick. Nox tripped him and began kicking him in the head. Stop yelling stop yelling please stop...

Slithering into the spa room, she slid down and lay back with her head on the rock. Turning the water back on, she let the flow relieve her from the discomfort of breaking soft eggs with her muscles. "All over soon, if this doesn't work, we're taking Mel, and running away."