|
Post by elizar on Jan 26, 2008 22:33:36 GMT -5
Crystal Bay was a quiet town in Nevada. There was enough population to both keep most of the residents working inside Crystal Bay with few working at neighbouring Reno or Carson City. But while nothing much really happened there, there was an interesting group in the suburbs of the town, working and trying to mingle the best they could, hiding their true identity.
Maxwell enjoyed the car wash throughout. He missed having a shower every day, and the carwash didn‘t come close to the sensation of the shower he once had. It had been a month since he had somehow teleported, or jumped as Samuel Wallace had put it. He had also at the same time transformed into his car, and gained higher senses. Sam, the ever helpful mage had explained that his engine, however odd he felt about having one, was tuned up, giving him sharper senses.
He was not the only one. Shortly after he came, Liana had arrived. At that time they realized that they had some sort of abilities. Liana could detect other humans, while Maxwell was able to do a strong suggestion, dubbed ‘Jedi mind trick’. He didn’t use it much other than to get himself a job as waiter at a local gas station, and Liana was doing secretarial work at a small local newspaper, both hoping that she would prove herself to be a writer for it, and hoping that she wouldn’t have the time to. Few days after Liana’s arrival, Sam came, and then few others.
Theo Miller had been not the best adaptation, but after persuading him to stay, he quickly got over the shock, and studied the ‘biology’ of the cars, him being a mechanic back home. His adaptation to it was amazingly quick, though all hoped that they wouldn’t be the ones studied on in the long run.
“Hey, there are others waiting.” A dirty trucker said to Maxwell, who snapped back to reality. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“Sorry about that” Maxwell called back, finding no decency in telling the trucker his shift was over. He had nice jobs laid out after college, having studied to be a nurse and hope to be a doctor, but it was hard to find a job with such talent in a world with no humans. He quickly rinsed the soap off him and got a warm blast of air to dry him off to some extent. When he came out, his mobile rang. It was Liana.
“You better page the others.” She said. “It’s the usual thing, but something’s different.”
“Different how?” Maxwell asked.
“I don’t know.” Maxwell imagined her human figure shaking her head. “I’m still getting used to it. Maybe it’s a false alarm. But it is at the usual location.”
“Alright, I’m sending message to everyone. I’m done for the day anyway.” He quickly sent the message, requesting a call-back or SMS to reply if the others would join the search or not. Having Stoker constantly looking over their theoratical shoulder was never fun, so they needed to be quick.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on Jan 27, 2008 12:03:25 GMT -5
Theo gave a loud sigh as he backed away from the computer he had been working on, his eyes tired from staring at a monitor for too long. Ever since he managed to settle down and organize himself in this new world, the human-turned-BMW had spent most of his time at this internet cafe researching the anatomy of the local inhabitants. He started out with this world's equivalent of Wikipedia, and worked his way up until he was reading difficult medical journals and encyclopedias.
But his mind was sick of reading...it wanted to apply the new knowledge. However, working as a mechanic in this world required a medical degree, and raiding junkyards as Theo had done back in his own world would be akin to graverobbing. He buried himself in his thoughts for a few moments, then decided to leave the pondering for later. He drove out of the cafe, paying the employee on the way out, which reminded him of his second problem: money.
I can't keep borrowing from the others forever...I have to make some myself...doesn't that electronics store down the road have a job opening?
His thoughts were interrupted by a ringing from his built-in phone. He opened the message, and read it with interest.
"Well, at least there's something exciting happening today..." He said to himself as he typed up his reply:
Count me in. Where should we meet?
He sent it.
------------------------------------------------
Gina slowly stirred as she woke up from...whatever had knocked her out. The last thing she remembered was her photographing a strange light, before everything went blank. She opened up her eyes, and found that she was lying belly-down in a field of sorts, with some small buildings in the distance. She wondered how she went from the mountains to what looked like a relatively urban area, but at least it beat being caught unconscious by some animal.
She tried to stand up...only to find that she couldn't, her body seemed to be accustomed to her current position. Other things began bothering her too: the fact that she could see, smell, and hear things she couldn't before, her increased size, the fact that she rolled whenever she wanted to move in a certain direction, and the fact that she could feel and see giant rotors pointing away from her "head".
"Where...the hell am I? And what's happening to me?" She thought out loud. The big Bell 430 trembled in fear and confusion, although she was growing used to her strange new body increasingly fast as the minutes went by.
|
|
|
Post by elizar on Jan 27, 2008 15:31:02 GMT -5
The usual ground, where you appeared. Liana is working, Sam will be with us. Maxwell replied back. He was already driving to the place, dozen so so square miles patch of land, seemingly barren, but there was some growth there, moss, some grass and few trees, and a lake. It was however bit rocky at times, so it was just Liana and Sam that could ensure that nothing was overlooked.
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on Jan 27, 2008 15:52:46 GMT -5
She was lost, unsure of where she was. The last thing she remembered was being in her room in her parents' house, then falling into a telepathic trance. When she had woken up, she had found herself in a different place, as well as in a different body altogether.
At first, she thought she was dreaming, but upon finding out that this was real, Maya Summers almost freaked out. Something had sent her to another dimension and she was pretty sure that it was not her powers as they weren't strong enough. The reasons were lost on her, however, and she "drove" about, looking for any sign that would tell her where she was, but this being the desert, it wasn't easy.
Maya was not sure how long she could last in this new body of hers, a Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z, nor did she know what would happen if she consumed anything. She was pretty hungry and wasn't sure about her body chemistry yet.
But driving on tires instead of walking on feet was strange, to say the least. She wondered what had possibly happened when she was thrust over to this world, but, unfortunately, the answer wasn't coming to her.
It wasn't long until she collapsed in exhaustion. The heat of the desert sun was getting to her as well as hunger and dehydration. She wasn't sure how long she had been out there and couldn't think whether or not she had seen any sign of civilization, like a road perhaps.
As she was beginning to lose consciousness, a black shape appeared on the horizon. She couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like another car, although she wasn't sure of what model it could be. As it got closer, she could spy a winged spoiler and the long nose that could only identify the car as a Dodge Viper. However, she wasn't sure how to react when the Viper drove right up to her and spoke to her.
"Hey, you alright?" asked the Viper.
Maya could only moan. She was too weak to speak.
The Viper blinked, looking concerned, "You looked pretty bad. Lemme take you to a clinic."
The next thing that Maya knew was that the Viper lifted her up and let her lean against her side. She was guided to the nearest town with a decent clinic, where she was taken in and treated for heat exposure while the Viper stayed in the waiting room. The doctors had already asked her where she had found the girl and what her name was. She had told them what she knew, but had stopped when she was asked questions she did not know, saying only that the Camaro she had brought in could answer them.
The doctors left her alone for the time being.
Now it was only a matter of waiting for Maya to wake up.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on Jan 28, 2008 2:46:46 GMT -5
On my way. Theo replied as he took off in the direction of the area Maxwell had mentioned, spinning his rear tires a bit as he did so. If there was one thing he liked about being a car, it was smoking his tires, although with the group's money situation he knew better than to overdo it and waste his current rubber.
A small while later, he was on the road approaching the patch of land where most of the trapped humans seemed to arrive. He hoped to run into the rest of the group soon...he wasn't sure if he could deal with someone as panicked and confused as he had been when he first arrived.
----------------------------------
Although she had calmed down by now, Gina was still lost, and rolled aimlessly down a large dirt path in search of something or someone that could help her. She saw the shining water of a small lake in the distance, and quickly made her way towards it. She looked down at the water, hoping she could see what was wrong with her.
She froze up. Her own eyes were staring back at her...but the rest of the body wasn't hers, or any other human's for the matter. She had become some sort of living helicopter.
|
|
|
Post by elizar on Jan 28, 2008 13:47:42 GMT -5
Sam was already there, overlooking the landscape, knowing that the two hotspots, either the lake or the cave was just behind the ridge. He looked back when Maxwell came.
"Scanned already?" Maxwell asked. "You know, that spell you were working on?"
"You wan't a head start?" Sam smiled. "Alright, but it is going to tire me." He inhaled, and chanted for few seconds before he let through invisible and undetectable energy fly forward. He breathed for a while as processing the feedback.
"When was Liana being drilled by Stoker?" Sam asked.
"Two days ago, why?" Maxwell answered, then looked back as hearing Theo's engine. He waved a wiper to him.
"So she was perhaps too distracted." Sam said. "Another came here two days ago, but gone now. The bad thing is, that this spell is designed for locating just one, it went either haywire, or is locating more than two."
"Join the search when you can." Maxwell said. "Theo?" He asked in a soft tone, suggesting he would be searching with him.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on Jan 28, 2008 16:35:30 GMT -5
Theo slowed down as he approached the group, and stopped before looking over the land, frowning. His memories of this place weren't happy ones...his first confused, frantic hours in this world were ones he wouldn't mind forgetting. His reaction to seeing it again was less than positive.
He turned back to Maxwell and Sam. "Hey..." He greeted them, and remembered the bit of conversation he had caught as he was approaching. "So, you think that there might be a new arrival or two around here? Then let's go and find them!"
------------------------------
Several theories formed rapidly in Gina's mind as she tried to make sense of her situation...maybe she was dead and this was some strange afterlife? Maybe the light she had seen was an alien spaceship that abducted and performed horrific experiments on her? Maybe she had simply gone insane...?
Her thoughts were cut off when her new senses picked up the distant sound of talking and car engines...she was not alone.
"Is anybody there?! Help!!!" She shouted towards the voices, which sounded much closer than they really were to her. As the urge to go in their direction increased, her turbine engines suddenly started up and her rotors began spinning, and next thing she knew she was a hovering a few feet above the ground. "Woah...this is actually kind of nice..."
|
|
|
Post by bc on Jan 28, 2008 21:49:42 GMT -5
Isaac Ammerson, a line hauler of age 35, climbed into his rig with a full pitcher of coffee, and a paper bag containing half a cheeseburger he decided he'd save for later. Right now, the tall, husky, bearded man was ready to go to sleep for the night, pulled over at a truck stop somewhere along Route 66. Behind the wheel of his truck, a dark green, mid-80's model Mack Superliner, Isaac dozed off to sleep.
Within a few short hours, he woke. Truckers never really got to sleep much, and his brain was used to running on four to six hours sleep. As he slowly opened his eyes, he surveyed the surroundings. It seemed he was still looking out over the nose of his truck, although, he couldn't see the dash, the steering wheel, or anything of the sort. In fact, he couldn't see his own nose. It was as if the front end of his Superliner had turned into his face. A mild panic began to set in, but Isaac was a logical thinker. "No, Isaac. You're having a weird dream. That's all. Just a dream." He thought this aloud. "You're going to... wake up... right now." He closed his eyes tight, then opened them again, only to find the same view ahead of him.
Isaac then tried to move. He had to find help. Something was not right. Somehow, some way, he and his beloved Superliner had become one and the same. When he tried to move, he heard the starting of his truck's--no, his--engine. The loud diesel was a notorious sound to semi trucks. It sounded entirely different, however, when coming from inside himself. Isaac looked around, and the strange thing was that his vision seemed to shift. When he wanted to look behind himself, he could suddenly see down his sides, and the sides of the FedEx trailer he was hauling. A little tripped out by that, Isaac kept looking from his forward vision, to the vision from his rearview mirrors.
He then heard a few people talking in the distance, and some engines. "Help... they can help me." He slowly drove forward, but stopped when he heard the loud sound of a helicopter about to take off.
|
|
|
Post by elizar on Jan 29, 2008 6:04:55 GMT -5
“One was here couple of days ago.” Maxwell said. “No longer here, but we need to find him or her before there is trouble. Stoker is big enough headache for now.” Maxwell rose up on his front shocks and smelled the air. It was hard for him to discern scents and identify them properly as he was both new to this, and this was a completely different world. He was looking for metal, but it rarely left any scent at all. That was one of the differences between that world and back home. Everyone had some specific individual scent coming from them, but while Maxwell could ‘lock on’ on a scent, he couldn’t really find a new one unless he was led to it directly.
“Useless.” He said after trying, and then he heard the sound of a semi truck engine, then a helicopter taking off, and then the semi stopping. He looked at the source of the sounds, but the ridge was in the way.
“Two of them, a semi and a helo.” He said. “We should split up, I take the helo while you deal with the semi. The hemi is thataway.” He pointed with his windshield wiper, then headed towards the lake.
|
|
|
Post by Reiji Neko Mitsukai on Jan 29, 2008 8:49:19 GMT -5
(Coffee. ^^)
Screeching tires. A roaring engine. People screaming.
That was the last thing she knew before she blacked out (so to speak) as she felt something touch her legs. When she came to, everything was black- which was no surprise, as she had lost her vision several years ago- and she could still hear engines... but there was more than one this time. At least one of them sounded like it came from a big semi-hauler, although it was a distance away.
Her environment had changed as well. It was hot out, and dry. She didn't move. She felt... different, and she got the feeling she wasn't in North Carolina anymore...
"... Hello?..."
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on Jan 29, 2008 11:39:40 GMT -5
As Maya slept, the Viper hung around the clinic, curious about the Camaro whom she had found in the desert. Something was off about her scent as far as the Viper could tell from her honed senses. Maya smelled like a Camaro, but there was another scent that she could pick up. A scent that she didn't know about nor understand. She wondered briefly if Maya could be a mixed-breed of some sort and was exhibiting her Camaro lineage more strongly than her other side.
The doctor who was taking care of Maya had occasionally come out to the waiting room where the Viper was reading a book to tell her of Maya's current condition, which seemed to be improving, although it was still going slow.
"Alright, could you tell me when she wakes up, please?" asked the Viper.
"Of course," the doctor nodded, "Are you a friend of the family?"
"Well, no... I'm the one who found her," the Viper shook her front, "I don't even know whether or not she has a family. She looked pretty lost to me."
"Alright," the doctor turned and went back into the ICU where Maya was resting to check on her.
The Viper sat back down to continue reading her book. Five hours passed where she, at one point, left the clinic briefly to get something to eat over at the local diner. When she came back, the doctor was waiting outside for her.
"She's awake," he said simply, "and is very confused at the moment, wondering where she is... and what she is."
"Can I see her?" asked the Viper.
"Of course," the doctor turned around and led the way to Maya's room.
Maya, who was studying a poster on the wall depicting the anatomy of a car with a bit of curiosity, turned when the Viper was let in.
"Hello," she greeted politely.
"Hey, good to see you up," replied the Viper, dipping her front in return, "How're ya feelin'?"
"Okay, I guess," said Maya, "Just a little groggy. Where am I? Who are you? What are you?"
"You're in a clinic," answered the Viper, "and my name is Ebony. I'm a tuner. I found you in the desert and brought you here?"
"Desert?" asked Maya, somewhat confused as the last place she remembered being in was back in her room in Buffalo, New York.
"What's your name if you don't mind me asking?" Ebony rose up a bit on her suspension to peer into Maya's violet eyes with wonder.
Maya blinked for a moment, before realizing that she was being asked a question. "Uh, my name's Maya Summers and I don't know how I ended up in the desert. Last I remember, I was in my room and I looked like a normal human being with dark skin."
"Hyooman?" asked Ebony in confusion, "What's a hyooman?"
"I am," answered Maya, "or... at least, I used to be. Now I'm stuck like this, although the classic Camaro is my favorite car."
Ebony fell silent, mulling over this new information. "So," she spoke up again, "Do you know if there are any other hyoomans around here like you?"
Maya shook her front, "Not that I know of. I haven't picked up anything that would indicate to me that there are any."
"Your scent does sorta smell funny," said Ebony, "I could help you look for any, if you'd like."
"You would?" asked Maya, looking at the Viper.
"Sure, whenever the doctor feels it's time to let you go, we'll go search for them," said Ebony, "Okay?"
"Okay," smiled Maya, "Thanks, Ebony."
"You're welcome," nodded Ebony as she started to pull away to let the doctor check on Maya again, "I'll be nearby if you need me. Get well soon, Maya."
With that, Ebony turned and went back to the waiting room.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on Jan 29, 2008 13:11:31 GMT -5
"A helo and a semi...a bit different than everyone we've met so far. I'm on it." Theo said, nodding before turning and heading in the direction Maxwell had pointed out.
After a few minutes of driving on rough ground, the large hauler was within sight, and Theo stopped before calling out, "Hey!!! Don't panic, I'm a friend!" while waving a tire. The BMW braced himself for any possible reaction...he didn't want to get caught off-guard in case the semi panicked and started throwing its weight around.
--------------------------------------
Gina heard some of the engines come closer, and slow increased her altitude to get a better look. Although she wasn't familiar at all with helicopter flight, it was as natural as walking to her, and as she went higher, she felt her landing gear instinctively retract into her body, further exposing her sleek shape.
A few hundred feet into the air, she stopped and surveyed the area. There was an SUV parked just beyond a nearby ridge, a sedan heading towards a semi truck nearby, a tiny compact further out in the area, and another sedan heading towards the location she was hovering above. She took a close look at the sedan, and gasped as she noticed that the windshield, like her cockpit glass, was covered by a pair of eyes. Something seemed very wrong about this place.
|
|
|
Post by elizar on Jan 29, 2008 16:26:58 GMT -5
Maxwell saw the helicopter in the sky and looked up on her. He could convince her to get down with simply a heard voice and words, but he was worried about any long term effects of doing it. Both on the subjects and on him. If someone who had the power to do such a thing, he could become dependant on it in the long run, trying to cover mistakes with his power that was caused by it in the first place. He had only done it once on Stoker, and it still left a bad taste.
"Come down! I want to talk to you!" He called out to Gina. He also needed her to stop rotating those blades. He wanted to catch the scent of the human-turned-car that had already left, and with the wind Gina was creating, the scent could just dissapate in the air.
|
|
|
Post by bc on Jan 30, 2008 0:53:55 GMT -5
Isaac was so thankful to hear the voice of another living being. He swore to himself he was stuck in some unknown dimension by himself. The sound of that voice seemed to relax him a little. "A friend?" Isaac asked with a curious tone about his usually deep voice. He surveyed where the voice was coming from, and rolled forward a few feet.
When he saw the sedan who had spoken, his eyes widened. "You... you're a vehicle... what is this place? Where am I? How did... I mean... I didn't stand on 18 wheels six hours ago." Isaac had to figure this out. There was another living vehicle approaching him that seemed to know about this place more than he did, or perhaps had been there long enough to know what was going on. The human-gone-semi needed answers, and figured this sedan would provide them.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on Jan 30, 2008 11:33:21 GMT -5
Theo sighed, relieved to see that the semi was calmer than he had been when he first arrived. He moved closer so that he didn't have to raise his voice.
"Don't worry, I'm in the same boat...I used to be a human a bit over a week ago. It seems that starting about a month ago, people have been randomly 'jumping' over from our universe to this one. It's a lot like our world, except that the inhabitants are creatures that resemble the vehicles of our world, and it seems we've been transformed to fit in with them. Fortunately, it seems that we're all appearing in the same general area for some reason, and we've formed a small group in a local town." Theo said, trying to keep his explanation short. "That's basically it, in a nutshell. It might seem like much, but give it a few days and you'll find yourself getting used to it."
He then waved with a tire towards the path he had come from.
"Now follow me...some of the group is nearby."
------------------------------
Even with her hightened hearing, Gina barely heard Maxwell's calls over the sound of her own rotors, and quickly descended at the promise of answers to her current situation. She lowered her landing gear again as she touched down, and stared, wide-eyed at the living car in front of her as her engines and rotors wound down. She noted that apart from the eyes, it also had a mouth and showed animal-like movement that isn't exactly common in normal cars.
"Wh...what are you?! What have I become?! Where am I?!" She quickly blurted out at Maxwell.
|
|