<span style="color: #0080FF"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Silver and Karin</span></span></span></span><br/><br/><div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px"><div class="quotetitle"><input class="button2 btnlite" onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = '';      this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Hide'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Show'; }" style="text-align:center;width:100px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" type="button" value="Show"/></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">"Uh... was that... really... necessary? I mean, impressive and all, but both of you could've died."<br/><br/>The woman had questioned me, causing me to breathe a slight sigh. Moments seemed to pass as I gazed down at my metal L-Guards, which indicated to me that the Lytenium stores were close to depletion. If I ran out completely, it would take approximately thirty minutes to recharge, and that was time I couldn't afford, judging from the dangers I had witnessed at the base of the tree. Returning my focus to the young woman, I felt my expression harden with determination.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I must make these people aware of the danger somehow... they cannot remain here, or else everyone will perish.</span><br/><br/>Striding forward purposefully until I was shoulder to shoulder with my interrogator, I placed a willful hand on her shoulder and motioned with my other hand towards the area near the tree. Hoping that my subtle hints would somehow warn the girl of the impending doom. Almost as if on cue, a third scream erupted from that same location. This scream, however, differed vastly from the previous ones, seeming to lack any semblance of emotion at all, whereas the previous cries were drenched with despair and agony. Without warning, I felt my knees go weak at this moment, and felt a twinge of pain in my arm that had not been there before. As I turned my attention to it, I could see a deep set gash in my tricep and the exposed bone underneath. The wound was abnormal, however, as there was no sign of blood, only a charcoal-colored film of some sort. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">How... how was I... injured?</span><br/><br/>Removing my hand from the other woman's shoulder, I pulled away, clutching the wound as it grew substantially more and more painful. Most damage I had experienced in the past became less agonizing over time, but at this moment I knew something was wrong, as the torment of my current injury more than tripled in the course of several moments. Breathing heavily and grimacing, I backed slowly away, my eyes now laden with fear as they observed the tree in the distance. I groaned as my affliction of agony escalated further, surprising me and sending me to a crouching position. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">It seems that whatever I encountered by the tree is more dangerous than I gave it credit for...</span></div></div></div><br/><br/><span style="color: #80BF00"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Andrea and Erik</span></span></span></span><br/><br/><div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px"><div class="quotetitle"><input class="button2 btnlite" onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = '';      this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Hide'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Show'; }" style="text-align:center;width:100px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" type="button" value="Show"/></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Aaron chuckles slightly when Erik asks for a spare pistol, not mockingly, but more out of surprise that he knows how to fire a weapon. <br/><br/>"Sadly no," He responds quietly, "Due to our current, well, <span style="font-style: italic">recent</span> laws up until now, officers here in the city weren't allowed to carry more than.. one..."<br/><br/>Aaron stops abruptly, his speech trailing off as he grips his weapon tighter, and stares ahead at the police station in the distance. His expression quickly darkens.<br/><br/>"Hey," he says, his tone strikingly more serious than moments before, "Erik right? You're in the military I take it, judging from your uniform. If that's really true, then you should understand me telling you to remain quiet from here on, and..."<br/><br/>He reaches to a side clip of his utility belt and retrieves something, thrusting it towards Erik urgently. It's a device known as a zap-net, a crowd suppression grenade that, when activated, seperates into two separate bars that release a field of medium voltage electric arcs upon detonation. The arcs immobilize anything caught in them, without causing undue pain. On the side of the grenade is a slider, allowing adjustment for the size of the field you wish to deploy. <br/><br/>"Use this in case anything happens to me." He finishes, then glances back, smiling again weakly.<br/><br/>Sweat matting his brow, Aaron disappears around the next corner, pulling his pistol completely from its holster. As Erik waits,  he hears a gunshot ring out, and a scream of pain that doesn't sound like Aaron's voice. After, you hear him speaking but the growing patter of rain drowns out some of his words, <br/><br/>"Guess los- ... -ters of... to... up... my... eh Jac-?" <br/><br/>This was followed by more indescernable speech, and the sound of laughing.<br/>---------------------------------------------<br/>The officer is only half responsive as the rain intensifies. He approaches Andrea and Jacob quickly, keeping his weapon trained on the now injured man, retrieving the criminal's pistol from the ground. Andrea can see the nametag of the officer, "Aaron Patrick".<br/><br/>"I somehow knew you'd find a way to live through all of this, Jake..." Aaron comments to the bald man, "I'm just glad I got here in time."<br/><br/>Aaron places his fingers to his mouth and whistles as loud as he can, signaling to Erik, then turns his attention to Andrea, who is still clutching the child closely. He notes the child's injuries.<br/><br/>"By the way, this child's mom was a police officer?" <br/><br/>The woman's question catches Aaron off guard, but he still makes an attempt to reply, <br/><br/>"To be honest, I don't know, I wasn't very familiar with the other members of the police force or their families..." He touched the child's cheek, which was ice cold, "What gives you that impression?"<br/><br/>Moments pass, then another laugh erupts, this time from Jacob, who still clutches his hand several yards away. <br/><br/>"Haha, I like you, Aaron," He smiles, a creepy unsettling grin.<br/><br/>Aaron curses and reaches for the other pistol, but before he can retrieve it, he hears the click of metal and a feels cold sensation against the back of his head. Sam now stands behind him with a revolver ready to end his life.<br/><br/>"But you're too naÃ¯ve to think I was the only one carrying a gun..."</div></div></div></span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFFFF"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="text-decoration: underline">???</span></span></span></span><br/><div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px"><div class="quotetitle"><input class="button2 btnlite" onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = '';      this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Hide'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Show'; }" style="text-align:center;width:100px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" type="button" value="Show"/></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Wandering... the only thing I can seem to manage. I've lost everything I care about, and have no concept of where I could possibly be... such a hopeless prospect. My mind draws my gaze around me, searching for nothing, expecting nothing, and greeted by... nothing. All that exists around me is the desolation of a ruined city, once adorned with unfamiliar and alien architecture. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Why am I here right now?</span> I wonder this to myself.<br/><br/>After what feels like hours upon hours of trudging through this wrecked cement wilderness, I see a single familiar sight in the distance. Like a pale finger pointing toward the heavens, a lone tree stands out on the horizon, its limbs outstretched over the world, as if guarding it from an unheralded enemy. I remember this tree... a symbol of a place I once called home...</div></div></div></span></span>