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__________________ Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception. I have taken The Oath of Sangus Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anyone who points it out.
Last edited by savoylen; Jun 5th, 2021 at 12:06 AM.
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- Aurora Donovan
- Technophobia Aurora will refuse to posses or use anything computerized more advanced then a simple calculator.
- Aurora became familiar with the Hoffmann Institute and the dark arts at the age of 13. She was a captive of a Demonic techno cult, and was rescued by a team from the Hoffmann Institute. After that she became obsessed with the dark arts and joining the Hoffmann Institute and making a difference. Her drive led her to graduate high school two years early. She attended college as soon as possible. She majored in History focusing intently of Medieval Europe. Aurora while seemingly well accomplished, really could not have cared less for her education. In reality she used her time in college to double down on her experimentation with the dark arts. She honestly believes that the best way to defeat the evil is to fight fire with fire.
Aurora looked over the latest report to hit her desk. The report went over the findings from Institute’s Internal Affairs Department. The subject of the report was in part Aurora and also a brass spinning top artifact. Aurora had been involved in the artifact’s most recent processing. She merely cleared and prepared it to be sent to the Archive's Oracle for inspection. However, at some point on its way to the Oracle the artifact disappeared without a trace. Much to her relief the report had determined that the disappearance of the artifact was the result of some yet unknown magic and was not the result of negligence on Aurora’s part. She had been on thin ice since Milwaukee and could not afford for the Institute to have another reason to doubt her or her abilities. She threw the report on top of a heap of papers that sat at the corner of her desk and sighed.
She leaned back in her chair and began to rub the bridge of her nose when a man cleared his throat. Aurora Looked up to see a man late 50s with unkempt hair that was just beginning to grey at the edges. He wore a tan trench coat and walked with s slight limp. He was leaning against a pillar adjacent to her deck with his arm folded across his chest. Still no office? Aurora did her best to hide a smile. It had been a while since she had seen him, and despite his role in her current situation, she was always glad when he stopped by. They wouldn’t want me to start liking it here. So, I sit in the corner of a dusty warehouse pushing papers.
Joshua continued to make small talk for a few more minutes, before being cut off by Aurora. What are you doing here Joshua? Joshua cleared his throat again briefly looked down at the floor. Where’s the Imp Aurora? Aurora’s eyes narrowed and her voice became more than a little annoyed. I wasn’t aware it had been a year already.
It hasn’t, something has come up…. Aurora you’re supposed to be watching the Imp. The Institute doesn’t want another Milwaukee
Aurora gave an annoyed sigh That was an accident we’ve done this so many times it’s become bothersome at this point. Meph is perfectly harmless. He went to get lunch and should be back soon. If this isn’t our yearly send my best friend away counseling session, I need you to tell me why you are here or leave.
Joshua pulled a file folder out of his trench coat and tossed it onto Aurora’s desk. We need you in the field on this one. Just you. Joshua turned and began to walk away before slowly coming to a stop and looking over his shoulder You know what you have to do right? I’ll stop by your place tomorrow morning for your decision Without another word from either of them he walked away.
Aurora flipped open the file and began reading. Before too long Meph returned with a bag of food and two large iced coffees. He was wearing his typical disguise a hooded sweatshirt, ball cap and dark sunglasses. Since he was in the Institute his hood was down and the sunglasses were hanging from the collar of the sweatshirt. I saw Joshua on the way out. Has it been a year already? That little **** trying to talk you into getting rid of me again.
Meph stop it Aurora scolded He is like my work dad he just wants what he thinks is best for me. Meph took off his sweatshirt and loudly slurped his ice coffee. Sounds to me like you’re defending the dweeb. Instead of siding with your friend. attempting to change the subject Aurora held up the file Joshua had left. It’s not like that at all Meph; he asked me to consult on a case. Meph pulled up a stool so he could read over Aurora’s shoulder. He continued to loudly slurp his coffee. Vampires?.... cool!
It was late as Aurora stepped out onto her balcony and lit a cigarette. The red-hot end of it glowed in the night as Aurora took a long drag as she surveyed the city. The view was unremarkable most of the time, but on a clear day if you squinted, craned your head just right and peered between two specific apartment buildings you could see the Eiffel Tower. Not that the view mattered. Aurora was out here to collect her thoughts not to take in the cityscape. She had been working hard on a spell since she got home. Meph was in his room playing computer games or whatever it was he did in there most nights after work. Aurora honestly didn’t know; she never went in his room. She claimed it was because she respected his privacy but in truth Meph's room was filled to the brim with all manner of computers and various other pieces of tech that made Aurora very uncomfortable. Technology scared her and had since she was a child. Aurora took one last drag on her cigarette before putting it out on the balcony railing and flicking it into a bucket of cigarette butts.
As she stepped inside, she called out Meph, we need to talk. From the depths of his room Meph called back Give me 5 minutes. Aurora positioned her self on the far side of the living room directly across from Meph’s room. She swallowed hard as the door opened and Meph flew out. He was in the middle of the room before he noticed something was odd. Aurora what’s going on? Aurora choked on her words and said nothing. Meph tried to flee but before he could make it to the balcony and out into the street he was throw back into the center of the room by a powerful warding circle. Aurora! Please don’t do this! We’re friends. Is this still about Milwaukee? That was an accident, you were there! Please! Tears were free flowing down Aurora cheeks as she peered into Meph’s panicked face. I know Meph. I know it was. I can’t stay in the archive forever. I’m so sorry. Meph held his head high in the air. Alright then do it. Just know that you made me better than I was, and I will never forget this. Not for eternity Aurora couldn’t tell if that Meph was thanking her or threatening her but at this point it didn’t matter. The spell had proceeded past the point of no return. With as much confidence as she could muster Aurora repeated the final words of power needed to complete the spell. Mephistopheles creature of the void! I Aurora Donovan banish you. Go back to the void and never return! The look of contempt on Meph’s face was enough to crush Aurora’s soul, He didn’t have to say anything else Aurora would never forget that she had betrayed her friend.
As the spell roared to completion the look of contempt quickly contorted to one of pain until Meph could no longer hold his tongue. He began to scream as his body began to fold in on itself as if it were imploding. Aurora felt this pain too. She and Meph were bound together after all and binding spell she had cast a half a decade ago was permanent and strong. Aurora also began to scream. The pain was unbearable. She clutched her side where Meph’s binding circle had been tattooed so many years ago. It was hot and sicky. She pulled up her hand to examine it. It was covered in her blood. Her vision went fuzzy the room began to spin and she passed out as her and Meph still screamed. Meph’s body quickly pulled completely in on itself until it resembled a small sphere on meat and bones about the size of a baseball. Then it disappeared with a flash of light and a puff on smoke. All that remained was the smell of ozone like after a heavy lightening storm and the feint hint of brimstone.
The next morning Aurora was awakened by Joshua shaking her and the sound of him praying for her wellbeing. She, however, knew that it was a spell to help restore her health. She felt like she was hungover and had also been hit by a truck. Aurora you shouldn’t have banished the Imp alone. It could have gone very bad. I could have been here for you to help keep you safe. Aurora struggled to sit. No Joshua, if you had been here, it would have gone very badly. This was the only way. Joshua grimaced at her words. You need to stop thinking you can do everything alone. It’s foolhardy and dangerous. You are like a daughter to me. I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt or worse. Aurora stopped struggling to sit up. A wave of nausea over came her and she laid her head in Joshua’s lap instead. She let out a soft chuckle and said You worry too much Dad. Joshua let out a sort.
Several hours had passed since Aurora had come too. She was now laying on her couch with a cup of hot tea resting on her stomach. Joshua had managed to clean up after the banishing spell already and was milling about in the kitchen. I have to go. There’s other Institute business I need to attend to. I’ll let the higher ups know that you are ready for the field again. Expect a reassignment in a day or two. As Joshua closed the door as he left Aurora got up and rushed to the bathroom to vomit.
Last edited by savoylen; Jan 28th, 2024 at 04:21 PM.
Kawamoto Jun, a forty something woman of Japanese-American descent. Jun is an mechanical engineer and inventor with some basic first-aid and driving skills. She is the granddaughter of a WWII Japanese pilot, Kawamoto Shiro, famous for disappearing on August 1945 in the area of the Devil's Sea in his Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Jun grew up on the stories he mother would tell of her grandfather's disappearance. And his last radio transmission: "Something is happening in the sky…the sky is opening up..." It were those stories that sparked Jun's interest in airplanes and how machines work in general. While the story of his disappearance was always more of a cautionary tale meant to foster proper respect for the mysteries of the universe.
It was only natural, growing up with the stories of her firefighter pilot grandfather, that Jun would eventually develop an interest in flying herself. Only with Jun it first came through an interest in the airborne machines themselves. While her interest in piloting said machines was more of a byproduct of needing to fully understand the nature and mechanics of flying. Spending countless hours on end in flight simulators was simply not cutting it anymore. Regardless of the versatility of the sims. Which included simulated flights in low Earth orbit, zero-G and what-have-you.
But sims can prepare you only up to a point. Nothing compares to taking control with your own two hands of the machine you helped build or design. Sims can’t bring you the same intimate understanding of what it is to truly pilot a machine of your own design or build.
And so, Jun forsook the pilot simulators for a taste of the real deal. Currently, she is a licensed Flyer (Winged)-1pilot with a decent amount of flight hours in her log book. And has completed a number of simulated low Earth orbit and zero-G flight training courses with issued certificates for competence.
Jun was always happiest when tinkering with her machines or behind the drawing board for a new project. In her workshop, elbows deep in grease and machine oil. And yet, as any budding inventor eventually finds out, not all battles are won behind the drawing board or in the workshop. Some had to be fought in the patent office. Yes...! The dreaded patent office! The very same institution that purportedly Einstein had once worked. Jun’s very first experience with the patent office was one bogged down by menial, petty bureaucracy. Up to the point that she’d almost given up registering the patent for her invention. But an inventor’s world was a dog-eat-dog world. Much like with academics and their famous aphorism ‘Publish or Perish’, so it was with inventors. Only, in the inventors’ case it became ‘Patent or Perish’.
So Jun put on her big girl pants, grit her teeth and dove head first into the tangled web of desperation that is bureaucracy. By the time she’d secured her first patent, she’d also acquired a decent Admin-1understanding of the inner workings of administration and bureaucracy. Much to her distaste for it.
At one point in her career Jun got really into exoskeleton mechanism design. Her foray into this niche field of research brought her into contact with a true visionary and futurist, AI expert Arai Noriko. It started out with Jun reading Arai Sensei’s work on AI and robotics. It progressed to email correspondence and exchange of thoughts and ideas and culminated with Jun matriculating for a series of Arai Sensei’s lectures on AI and robotics. Jun had managed to earn Arai Sensei’s respect with her genuine interest in the topic of AI, robotics and the crossover field of cybernetics. So much so that the elder scientist had taken the mechanical engineer under her wing and mentored her wholeheartedly into her own Science (Life Sciences/Cybernetics)-1field of science.
To this day the two are very close and correspond regularly when time and science does not permit them to meat in person.
Sep 20th, 2020, 05:52 PM
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