Pinnochio Experience

December 10, 2017:

Chip McNally makes an unexpected return to Cyberforce

Characters

NPCs: Chip McNally

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

A loud thud as one of the trap doors leading to the Cyberforce Subplex opens. A scraping sound and then something hits the ground with a CRASH. "Someone help!" A voice, not at all loud or gruff, not Corben and not Ripclaw. Nor Exergy or even Lucia.
No. This was Chip McNally. Their AWOL resident genius and he is in one of the tunnels grunting and trying his best to haul something heavy down the passage, a scrape, scrape, noise of slithering can be heard trailing with him. "Come on, anyone home? GUYS!? Corben… Robert… CC?"

Mumbling under his breath the thin young man with the large glasses, messy brown hair and grey hooded winterjacket and gloves tries again only to fall down. A string of curses following.

*

Everyone was everywhere (else).

Drunk and near K.O.

Exhausted.

Headphones to the World… Gunfire and cyber-reality (Cliche! I know…)

Velocity is sitting in her room, the poster of a cybernetic unicorn running across an Apocalyptic landscape is behind the press of her back, an Advent Calendar prying the 7th door opoen and she pops the tiny chocolate out, rolling it between fingertips like a coin-trick, but speeding it to a heated pass that 'melts' the faux cocoa over her fingers.

Velocity is about to finish licking the coco from fingertips when the cry for help comes out and has her pausing, wiping the mocha off onto tissues beside her small cot/bed, then fluttering up like moths as she departs the room and heads for Chip, and just as he is about to fall once more she catches him, another hand clutching his carted package, the brilliant smile not showing any 'burden' of weight or timing - reflection…

"You were missed." Velocity states to Chip, her hug one that brings him back to his feet with her own.

A snap of fingers tugs his short hair in taunt and offer of sibling pain. "Where the fuck have you been??" The only question, not of what his 'burden' is…

*

"Ow!" Chip says at the sudden hug and quick pull of hair. "V-v-Velocity… " The young man stammers and swallows, his cheeks going flushed. "When did you get back? Why are you here? I tried to go to college and be normal." A turn around and he points with both mitten covered hands, "OB VEE it did not work out."

What is he indicating? A body. A cyborg body and it's faceplate is smashed its armor buckled in places and wiring hangs out but blood coats joints, Chips legs and shoes.

"They found me again. I worked so damned hard too. This is a newer model… " He kneels down and peels back the faceplate, a bearded man, both eyes cybernetic plugs and Chip casually rams a finger in to one and starts fishing around plucking out a small compact minidrive looking object, its peeled free of nerve endings, more tiny cords and lots of gunk. "THIS! Its way more sophisticated than Corben's brainbox and so much smaller. What is happening? Its only been like… a year since Ripclaw had that other team out. Ravager, Scion… now… yeah… " He stops talking and gulps. "They killed my roommates. Its really fucked up."

*

Velocity does not stop, even as Chip protests. She has missed him, just as much as the dormant TIMMIE she has read the 'Christmas Carol' to, every night - chapter by chapter, hoping maybe… JIMIE would help rouse him during the season with memories.

In her pocket a Road Runner Toy is rubbed over in a sweep of thumb while the dimly lit bunker is only awoken by her lowly reading voice.

Now:

Chip is released only, maybe!, once a pale blue and he starts digging into an eye socket, beneath the visceral pockets of 'real' into a drive that is far smaller than…

A sweep over temple and fingers spread, almost like a peace sign from cheekbone to temple. The size difference…

… Measured?

"What do you expect, Chip? You left. I understand, but to expect anything more than bitch-cake and fucked up?" Vel scoffs at him and leers at the tinier hard drive while she grips the 'luggage' of Cy-Borg and aids in dragging him through, kicking Corben's recliner into 'Upright Position' in passing. (Wakes him or not? Vel did it for wtfever-funsies!)

"They are hunting, killing, and honing that practice, Chip. But…" A pause as she grips the body and hoists it upon a platform between them like the trash it -is-.

"We're never safe. None of us…" Vel looks away then, allowing that auburn hair of fall over the ink lined eye.

*

"I'm sorry? I wanted to be a normal boy. I wanted my Pinocchio experience." Chip protests defensively. "I didn't know where to go but back here." The heavy SHOC is left where he is, it's not like McNally can haul him any further. Velocity though. That super metabolic body is strong, stronger than most humans and way stronger than her size would ever let on.

"I know but I'm not like you guys, I'm just a mutant. I got a superbrain remember nothing else." He follows after her, watching her wth a smile, "I'm happy to see you though. Its been depressing around here with everyone else gone. I even miss Dyla… Heatwave bossing me around."

She mentions TIMMIE and Chip frowns heavily. "Hes still deactivated right?" There is sadness in his voice. Deep sadness. "There are reasons for that, Carin. Ones I don't think he fully knows."
"Has someone been decorating?" Chip looks around. "Someones been cleaning too. Its nicer." Then he steps on an old beer can… "Most of it."

*

"Did you find out that you are a Real Boy, then Chip?" A lift of brow as the SHOC is stared at and then slowly those jade eyes lift to him, hauntingly keen surrounded in such pale skin, even from the single eye bearing a bullies attempt at fun that left her face marked with a fitting tattoo, but even more accenting to the entirety.

"He is, I put him in a room and set it up nice for him for when he wakes up." She doesn't refer to TIMMIE in a way of activation, like a robot, AI… Lifeless. "Because he's like the rest of us, depressed." They're all just coping differently. "You should go say hi when you get the chance."

The beer can is looked at with a low exhale. "Yep, that'd be me, also been filling in holes in the brickwork and pipes." A small smile then as the look goes back to the SHOC.

"Well, welcome back home."

*

"I did. I think. What does that mean? I think so." Chip pushes up his glasses again giving Carin another confused look. "I realized I don't fit in like I wanted to. Like the rest of the world." The young man shrugs his shoulders. "I probably should have been more affected when my roommates were killed but I just… stared. I think something in me is broken."

A "He shouldn't be woken up, Carin. Timmie isn't one of us anymore. He is depressed because hes… " Chip puts his head down, "Hes defective and we should destroy him before he hurts someone."

"I can't do it though."

"Wh.. oh, you're fixing things. I'm happy you are you. I mean, fixing things and here again. Home… A place to store my things… thats all home has been. Who else came back with you? Dom? Cassie? Morgan?"

*

"It means.." A low exhale as one hand lifts and her finger pokes the SHOC in the temple, the head rolling to the side limply, somewhere in the drag and shuffle his neck must have… Disconnected. No flinching from Vel, not even a sign of any emotion nor care. "Nah, you're overthinking it. You'd care if it was one of us, like you care who all came with me." A pause and her brows furrow, Cass made an appearance and helped in my rescue and a couple other things, but gone again… As usual." The latter murmured lowly, her blink a bit slower than normal, timed to hold back…

"No he's not." The set in her jaw shows that tiny spark of anger, her eyes remaining on the SHOC in a focus that could have bore holes through it if they produced lasers. "Why wouldn't Robert or any of them tell me, then?"

Walking from beside the SHOC she picks up the empty beer can and on her path towards the trash can the sound of aluminum being crushed resounds in her wake.

*

"Stop poking him. He is way dead… " Chip says with a grimace. "Yeah, I set a trap up. It fried him and he fell off the balcony. It took a wheel barrow and an hour just to get him in the back of my car."

Chip sighs, "I do care. But hes been rewired, something corrupted him and his programming changed completely. There are… glitches, intentional ones."

"Some of them don't know and those who do probably wanted to protect you from it."

Chip watches her then hurries after, "Cass isn't with us? Too bad. I have some new eye-deas. Get it? What I said there?" A little humor in him and it attempts to come out. "CC, I have to run a diagnostic on him too… I almost forgot."

*

"I figured only slightly dead." Princess Bride, for the win! "But I had to be sure he was roadkill levels, for my own assurance. I have faith in your," A gesture (Viola!) as she lowers onto the arm of the couch for a seat claimed. "Savvy and smarts, though you could have likely tapped into our frequency and called for help, although… If they managed to find you, than the risks of that - nevermind."

The subject of TIMMIE is one that causes nostrils to flare but she stops there, and just looks towards the hall that leads the direction of their rooms, then back to blank stare his way at that pun that gives him a deadpan.

Then the smile comes with light laughter.

"On the SHOC? Make sure every piece is put in a grin… I know just the person for that." Yes, Chip has missed a few things. "We have a couple newcomers, by the way, like Robert, Cass… Defected and Corben is working on them as well. Be nice to Lucia and she may let you touch her nanites." Her turn.

*

"Way dead. Flames shot out of his mouth and eyeballs." Chip says with an ominous tone. "It was pretty jacked up."
"If I had the tools or more knowledge of this guy's newer tech I could probably reverse engineer some of it but the time that would take… " His hands are in his pockets watching which directions shes looking, then staring at her confused when she starts to laugh, "Why grinning?" A frown then he looks suspicious, "Lucia? Touch her nanites is that intentionally dirty sounding? That makes me concerned and is she SHOC or something else?"

*

"Yeah well, he had it coming." Carin retorts. They are all broken inside in one way or another, just as easily noted when he totally misses her ribbing a few times over, or is getting back in tune with the Erkel side of life in this bunker.

Back to normal. For them.

"Lucia was a tech, she's already been tinkering around already. The other guy, newer SHOC, thinks he knows Lucia, or remembers her… or something? Only saw him once when we were fighting SHOC in the subways." A low exhale after her head lowers slightly, blowing a whisp of auburn from her face. "Well, with the way things look I do not think we have a whole lot of time to play catch up, Chip."

*

"I know. Its still death though, SHOCs show up and people die. Usually normies." He did miss it all, its gone over his head and it's coming from Velocity, this makes it extra hard for him to pay attention because hes subconscious. Chips always inflicted with doubt when aornd her. "So two new people and a lot of us still gone…. I see. We're already playing catch up, Carin." He says with a level of optimism thats surprising.

"Now, imagine if Cyberdata can gain eyes and ears fro the uprisings surfacing now." Velocity is sure he has at least read/watched/heard all that 'News'.

"Yeah now if we catch up with," Her exhale is more a groan and her palm smears over her face, his optimism in awkward is hard to deny even at times when she is being the Dark side of the Rainbow. "Getting little drone bots to pick up after two more men and a tech tinkerer I will have more free time to stretch out and work on my tan." The sarcasm comes in a slow roll of her head that has her watching him as it tilts to the side and has her cheek resting on the uplifted shoulder, but her smile and rapid bat of lashes shows her following the queues.

"So, where's your stuff? Let's get you unpacked and settled back home."

*

"You tan about as well as I do." A deep voice interrupts the conversation with it's delivery. Ripclaw's red eyes visible down the passage before the rest of him, then the chalk white skin comes in to play and the man is studying Chip, a curl of his lips to show teeth and he looks fierce almost, grim but then the realization hits that hes smiling.

"Ripcl… Robert." Chip stammers, "You scared me. I wasn't sure if I am welcome or… "

"You're always welcome Chip. You're family." The tall Native walks past Velocity towards the way they were coming from, in passing her his claws lightly touch her shoulder and then they're lifted and hes kneeled to inspect the SHOC that was brought with. "You did this?"

Chip swallows and nods, a frown there.

"Homemade fireworks from the smell. Broken neck too. Good job and you should have called us." Likely Carin already said that.

*

Carin's lips part as she heads for the tunnel…

The same path the voice come from, accented by the glowing cast of red eyes, inset in shadows like a predators until she stops and remains standing there like a sentinel to barricade -

- unnecessarily when Ripclaw reveals himself, the graze of claws doing nothing in evidence while he passes. Her silence echoed by Chips own stammer over a name. A known name.

"I.." A small smile as Carin pivots on heel, the golden bracers upon ankles, that match those upon wrists, send forth a chime in her motion, the ingratiated ambiance sliding over captured embodiment.

"… told him that.." What part? All of it. "Already."

There is no looking way from Velocity, those eyes watched once more as the SHOC is examined and limply moves under examination before Death's Chill sets in for Rigor.

A side-step to Chip, a elbow nudged. "Dude… Let me go get your stuff." Spoken lowly, despite the fact Carin knows better!

He an likely hear them.

If Ripclaw even bothers to look up, she's Gone! No directions or prompting needed. Ripclaw confirmed it.

Welcome back Chip! Like it or not..

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