- RP Date
- ye 41
- RP Location
- Obsidian City, Sirrus IV
God, this was the worst, he could be happily sleeping or ripping apart his arsenal for a few hours while hopped up on Dust-Gizer until the sun comes up but no, apparently he needed to go and do security rounds... it wasn't even like anything interesting could happen it was all so boring deep underground - hell meeting a rodent at this point would give the wolf something to do at least, and there were only so many hallways you could run down before it got tedious, at least the ventilation gave some teasing of a breeze against his porcelain features.
Hati sighed as he walked down yet another hallway, carbine hanging over the vest on his torso with standard security fatigues under that and his telltale beanie over that shaggy mess of raven hair... truth be told the genetic freak had no idea why he had brought the beanie, nobody was around to see the ears hidden beneath them nor the fluffy tail that freely bobbed behind his rear with each step but he had, probably some precaution.
The young man walked up to one of the server farm's security doors and swiped his finger over the scanner, expecting a beep as he moved to walk though but instead the door gave an angry sound and marked a failed security check - so he tried again... same thing, anger was beginning to rise as a low growl left his slightly snarling mouth and the wolf's gloved hand curled up into a fist.
bonk
It knocked on the viewport once, then a few more times to check if anybody was there~ he hated getting help but Hati knew he'd hate tripping the security systems even more.
Inside the room, Haisely was lounging around on her stack of pillows as usual with ears and tail out, casually playing a game on her tablet. Despite being able to have ingame screens showing the real world but Jack had insisted she not go into her virtual world while inside the room. The girl looked up when she heard the banging on the window with a scowl, tossing the pad aside she tapped a button on her arm to unlock the doors for the strange thing outside.
"who are you, why don't you just get a DNA sample setup in the system." She said with a bored tone, not bothering to get out of her makeshift bed as her ears swiveled to face Hati.
Hati's red eyes widened a little as the door opened up so suddenly, his tail quickly retracting back through the slit in the back of his cargo shorts before the young wolf looked around the room a little~ the ears and eyes caught him off guard, and after a few sniffs of the warm air the lanky human-looking man spoke, "I have~ shit just doesn't want to work half the time... whatever, I need to do a few sweeps of the area," Hati's words came off as almost a low growl of annoyance.
"How come I didn't know about it then." Her metal tail swept low on the floor around her with a soft grating sound, her cat-like cybernetic eyes scanning over the person, noticing the slight outline of a tail before her gaze returned to the tablet previously discarded.
"Because I'm taking over for F-11... look, just check the roster and you should see the name Hati," he spoke, walking into the room a little more and presenting the name on his vest, sure enough it read Hati and his eyes traced the movements of her tail slowly while waiting for this seemingly lazy technician to confirm he was supposed to be here.
Haisely rolled her eyes which returned to looking like a normal persons during the motion and rolled onto her back. "Whatever, just don't bother me." She returned to her tablet and continued playing her game, cracking a smile at it now and then. Glancing over at the security man she narrowed her eyes once more. "Aren't you going to get started?"
"Yeah whatever, just stay there and don't annoy me too much," Hati spat back at her, eyes similarly narrowing as he held her gaze, not wanting to be the one to look away first - his slightly pronounced canine teeth showing themselves slightly as the man's mouth shifted into the slightest snarl.
"Like I could annoy you anymore than you already look, I promise I wont turn the lights off and scare you ok?" Haisely replied with a forced sweet tone, giving a fake smile in the process before curling up in her sweater and pulling the hood over her ears. "You're not very scary with your fake teeth either, claws are much more practical."
"...Fake~" Hati repeated, one dark eyebrow raising up as the boy's back straightened, tilting his head to the side a little before letting a heavy breath leave his lungs, material of one glove creaking as the balled-up fist tightened. "You're right, you are real fucking annoying - have fun fiddling with the lights," the boy growled back, moving to the other door and maintaining eye contact for as long as possible as the man muttered under his breath, "metal bitch."
"I'm so scared of insults, go do your boring sweeps already so I can go to bed." She shot back from her cushion prison. Just to see his expression she switched off the lights, her tablet glowing in the dark. Haisely knew that annoying him would only prolong his stay but she hadn't had a chance to tease anyone since she was first introduced to Seraphina
Everything went dark save for the tablet and the tapetum lucidum of Hati's eyes as they caught the faint light, two orbs that burnt into Haisley for a moment longer before he went into the server farm with a faint smirk on his features, a triumphant one and in the darkness Hati let his tail slip back out for the sake of comfort.
"So you do have a tail, why'd you hide it?" Came the soft voice from the blankets in the corner.
He paused, turning to look over one shoulder before shrugging, made sense her eyes were for more than just show but admittedly in his moment the wolf had forgotten about them, "Why not? people are fucking annoying when they see it," he grumped, still walking between the rows of servers in the room that ran around where Halsey was sitting.
"Well, why hide it when the only other person here has a metal one, as you so kindly pointed out before. Just seems pointless to me." Haisely left the lights off, clearly he didn't need them to see and obviously felt better about being himself in the dark, while she was a nuisance she could respect another person like herself. "So what're you sweeping for?"
"I mean, you're still just another person, you still have the capacity to be annoying about it so why bother?" he sighed, squatting down to tug slightly against a grate before the wolf stood back up to continue his route, it wasn't so much he was appreciative of the dark for any self-image reasons~ but he just... really didn't want anybody mistaking him for a neko, last person almost ended up in a hospital if Spark hadn't been there to stop him.
"Making sure there aren't any bugs or taps or whatever anywhere," he replied, showing little to no interest in the Nepleslian's position here.
"Do you want me to be annoying about it then?" Haisely asked sarcastically, "I don't know about bugs and wires, I'm here most of the time but there is some times I leave for food I guess, or play games." The answered, almost helpfully. "You got ears too?"
"Duly noted~" Hati reciprocated as he checked one final vent, squatting down on toned legs to pull at the grating before rising up once more to begin making his way back over to the monitoring room - sniffing slightly as he entered, sure she was a bitch at the start but it seemed Haisley's mood had changed a bit, of course the wolf didn't fully trust her but he still answered, "Yeah two of them, and all this other shit... what do you have?"
"Tail, ears, eyes and claws." She replied, wiggling the mentioned extremities around and showing off the claws, she could tell he was nearby at least without looking. "The metal bitch is a new one though." The girl stopped herself from saying more, she didn't know this guy yet they were now holding a proper conversation and that, was not something she felt like figuring out right now. "How much longer." Came the slightly colder question.
"Yeah well it was an accurate name at the time and I stand by that, I've got - tail, ears, nose, funky pheromones, eyes that can do the same shit power armour can, lack of a lactic acid system, and a bunch more stuff you probably don't want to hear, just waiting until it all falls apart honestly," Hati huffed as his brooding response, kicking a plastic cap a little before moving to answer her question.
"This was the last sub-floor I had to check so I'm off duty now, so that's that~"
Well then looked like his short visit would be done, but she was still a little intrigued, much as she hated to admit interest in another living thing. At the very least she wanted to know a little more about his personality so she could make another unused model out of him to put in her collection. "So off to bed then, I suppose you sleep in the light given you enjoy the dark."
"I was asleep before but, I'm awake now so might as well mess with my guns or armour or something - if you were wondering, dark is just less of a strain on my eyes," Hati shrugged at the Nepleslian catgirl, not sure if he should go or if she was trying to get him to keep talking.
"Must suck, not able to switch them off." She mused, "Do you have any snacks."
"Eh I can kinda, but it's just easier," the glowing-eyed genetic freak mused as he reached into his vest, opening a pouch that had a few muesli bars before he tossed one onto the pillow infront of her.
Haisely accepted the morsel by way of nodding and unwrapped the snack. It seemed they’d come to a common understanding about where each of them stood in relation to the other. She supposed he wasn’t so bad. “Do you have any actual interesting hobbies?” The Nepleslian asked with a smug grin, munching away.
"Finding trouble I guess but nothing really besides that," Hati reciprocated, arms crossing over his chest as he gave the girl a sideways look before asking, "Well you already know my name, am I going to get yours?"
"Well you don't get anything without asking, Haisely Goenkof. Don't acknowledge me in public or I'll deny knowing you, it's just a habit." She said, shrugging as though it was normal. The girl pondered something for a moment, "What kind of trouble?"
Hati nodded at this strange girl's name, committing it to memory before answering her question with a little shrug of his own, "Sneaking around where I don't belong, the occasion fight and then yelling at our oh so high and mighty Jackoff Pine - can't stand that guy," he admitted.
"Then why are you here?" She asked, intrigued as to why he would stick around, though with his unique appearance perhaps this place was the only one he'd found where he wasn't judged, as badly. "Seems there's a few people who don't like him, do you like money at least?"
"Money's arbitrary, but there are a few people I like here that make his insufferable ways worth it," Hati spoke before his eyes shifted to the ground, a small sniff and a few blinks before he continued speaking. "Well... with recent events, one less," the wolf muttered with a forlorn sigh before his eyes went back to Haisley, head cocking to one side curiously, "What about you, why are you here?"
"Stowed away a while ago, back when they used to be on a dust bowl. Stealing food to survive while I earnt money through various jobs, for some reason Jack decided to hire me after I punched him, then he whacked me with his gun and I couldn't see straight for days." The pseudo neko replied, assuming the recent events he mentioned was the death of Sarah, by now everyone had heard about it.
"Did you get him good?"
"Yeah, kinda. I'm not a fighter."
"You're a Nepleslian though no? or at least you look and smell like one- I hear they are naturally good at that kind of thing," Hati mused back as a thoughtful look danced onto his porcelain features, clearly contemplating something.
"I'm also a midget girl incase your eyes are that bad you didn't notice, not my proudest feature but I'm agile and fast rather than strong and enduring. And growing up on the streets as small as me meant I developed a brain unlike the regular thugs."
"You're also buried under half a bed and wearing a giant hoodie, how am I supposed to know what's hidden away under there?" Hati replied with a small huff out his nose before clearing his throat, looking at the short girl for a moment longer and then continuing, "Do you think you'd be able to fix up my biometrics profile for the security and stuff? I mean you don't have to, but you're not exactly doing much else right now."
“You caught me, i'm actually an ID-SOL and about to break you in two.” She replied with a smirk, sitting up cross legged and folding the hood back to reveal her fairly plain face with her ears poking through the hair. “Sure, I could, but I’m the metal bitch so what do I get?”
He smirked a little too, moreso at the second part but replied with a shrug before Hati's ands settled in the pockets of his cargo shorts, "Hell if I know what you want out of this, metal bitch," the wolf smirked a little more, the lupine tail slowly swishing from side to side.
“Hmm, how about an IOU?”
"...I get the feeling owing you anything would only end poorly, is there anything you want like - right now instead?" the wolf asked, eyes narrowing a little at Haisley.
"You afraid of me or something? Not like I'm gonna ask you to rob a bank with me over such an easy task on my side of the deal. But if you insist then probably, food?" The girl said suggestively, tugging at her worn hoodie which looked like it hadn't been taken off in a long time.
"Not scared so much as I just don't want to have to deal with it later if that makes sense, so what do you want to eat? honestly I might get myself something too," Hati asked as he opened up a browser on his geist, paying no mind to the state of her hoodie because honestly a few of his weren't much better.
"Scaredy cat." Haisley shot back quickly, hopping up to sit in her swivel chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and observing the strange man, boy, person in front of her. "Just a burger." Haisely responded while pulling up her own tablet, she'd opted out of getting a geist shoved in her head, too messy and she had to either get a new body or endure way too much pain. Instead she just opened her access point to the network and began to fiddle with the biometric profiles. "I need DNA data to match it too."
Hati might as well have been staring daggers into the pseudo catgirl after her name calling, something dark smouldering behind his eyes as the wolf made his immense hate of the name known, "Look~ you don't want me to acknowledge you in public... and I never want to hear you call me a cat again~ got it," he told her, coming off as more of a warning than a question.
"Oh, that hit a nerve didn't it, though it was more an expression than reference to your uh, makeup." Haisely said back, turning away from the scowling creature with a 'sheesh' expression before continuing on with her side of the deal. "Soooo, DNA data?"
"I just really don't like it okay," Hati shook his head before placing the digital order and moving a little closer to Haisley, visibly not as agitated as the wolf spoke again, "So do you need blood or something?"
"I mean, if you have something on hand to digitise the DNA so that computers can read it, Otherwise any exisiting samples that've been uploaded and have a digital copy I can use to update the profile." Well, if he hated cats so much why was she still sitting here.
"Ah right, my bad uh~ give me one second," the wolf spoke as a look of concentration overtook his features, Hati went through his geist's available data on his body and soon enough sent the encrypted file over to Haisley's machine, it was a rather messy genetic sequence that looked a few moments away from tearing itself apart - though the most first thing to stand out to her was the fact he was labeled as a Fenrir clone, nothing the young man had brought up but suddenly the red eyes and a few facial features made sense.
"Does that work for you?"
"Yep" She replied, categorising the whole lot of different whatsits into numbers for simple minded scanners to understand. Of course they'd have clones here, though if they were all like him she would be more than happy to stay away from them. "Right, should be done, just need to reboot the system in each area now, which I can only do with authorisation and uhhhh, you know what I'm just gonna reboot it one spot at a time, authorisation be damned."
"Yeah you don't seem like the kind to wait for authorisation... thanks though, I appreciate it," Hati admitted, resting his hands on the back of Haisley's seat as he looked at the screen over her shoulder for a moment. "Food should be here soon too, well back at the security checkpoint but yeah~" he spoke a little awkwardly before sighing, it would be good to have the doors actually work for him.
The Nepleslian stiffened when the hand found its way to her chair back, he may not like being called a cat but this cat didn't like physical contact any way shape or form, and that hand was very close. That and she couldn't swivel her chair now either which wasn't cool. "Sounds uh, great. How long?"
Sensing the shift in energy coming from the small Nepleslian, Hati retracted his hands quickly to bury them in his pockets and take a step back, "It said three minutes, but you know how they can be with that kinda stuff~" he answered, moving to lean up against one wall.
The girl relaxed slightly once more and let out a breath she had been holding in unconsciously, "Not really, I've never ordered food and collected it before."
"Ah, my bad... so I get that you're into computers and stuff, but what else do you get up to?" he queried, fiddling with the beanie atop his head a little bit before just pulling it off to reveal two very wolven ears that sprung up lazily, dark like his hair and tail with white fluff coming out of them - ruffling the shaggy mop a little as he looked over to her.
Haisely took note of the ears and subconsciously reached up to brush over her own cat-like metal ones. "...Robbing banks?" Came the very vague reply, despite her earlier joke robbing banks was something she'd done before though not in the way most people would assume. The pink haired girl had a brief thought of touching them but figured unless he was strapped down she'd lose the hand.
Hati smirked a little at her answer, playing it off as some joke about what she'd said earlier- but then he thought on it some more and one of the ears flicked idly, a frown crossing his features as the young wolf cocked his head at her, "...Really?"
"Oh yeah, a few times, latest one was just before you got in actually. What time and, day, is it?"
"It's like... almost two in the morning on a tuesday, so you're that one person in a heist movie that does all the computer stuff or am I missing something here? ehhh~ actually hold that thought," the wolf stopped himself, straightening up his posture and thinking for a moment longer before giving his final verdict on what he thought was going on.
"I'm guessing you steal virtual currency instead?"
"Bingo, I rob banks of virtual possessions, data manipulation and balance redistribution. Also information when they have it, and all the stuff I steal I throw away. I prefer to earn my keep through legal means." She replied, rather proud of herself.
"Damn..." was all he could say for a moment, dark eyebrows hitched up out of surprise as Hati let out a low whistle. "That's actually pretty cool, if I'm being honest here, and there isn't much that impresses me," he complimented the short Nep before glancing off to something that wasn't physically there, a notification from his geist.
"Food is here, one moment," he explained, putting the beanie back on before momentarily disappearing around the corner, tail slinking back into his shorts.
Haisely watched him leave with inquisitive eyes, usually people weren't terribly impressed by her ability to break through online security, they were more impressed with physical feats but apparently Hati was different. The pink haired girl sat in her chair and spun round a few times while she waited, so far she'd managed to collect a bit of info about what kind of person he was and with that in mind she set about designing his avatar.
It wasn't too long before Hati came almost silently jogging back with food, stuffing his wallet back into his pocket with one hand as the boy's tail flopped along behind him - a plastic bag held in his mouth Hati reached for the door and much to his delight it opened first try, so the wolf entered the room and began transferring the bag back to his hands with a query of, "What are you working on?"
"Avatars, mostly. Why did you carry it with your mouth?"
"...my hands were busy?" it just made sense to him, hands were busy why not use your mouth - it was only the straps anyway so it barely mattered as Hati dropped the thought and moved to better inspect the screen, putting Haisley's wrapped up burger on the table next to her before rooting around for his own food.
"Well what are they for? the avatars, that is."
"Just my collection, I use my own for jobs and entertainment and..." The girl paused for a moment and looked off into the distance. "I also like to make models based on people i have the unfortunate displeasure of interacting with." Haisely said, tipping her head from side to side to punctuate the words. "No offence, I just sort of hate social interactions with almost everyone."
"None taken," Hati mused with a half-devoured burger in one hand as he dragged a stool over with the other to sit next to the Nep without invading her personal space bubble. "I know what you mean with the 'almost everyone' thing, people are just... whatever, like I said no offence taken," he shared before going back to attacking the large burger in hand, Haisley's screen reflecting off his red eyes as he studied it keenly.
Haisely took hold of her own burger and unwrapped a small portion at one point and took a nibble, tasted like all burgers did, bland. But she ate it none the less like she always did. Since being found and hired, only one other person had seen inside her virtual world and used the avatar she'd modeled on them, "Did you, want to see?" She asked cautiously, turning her head up to look at the wolf .
Hati looked back at her with the last mouthful of his burger, chewing it a few times and then swallowing before he responded, "See the Avatar you made of me? yeah uh, sure, don't see why not," he offered with a faint smile, being so close to him it had become a little more evident there was the faintest scent only barely perceivable by her nose - nothing unpleasant but just different.
"Here, put this on." She said, handing him a thin membrane patch with a copper frame, placing one on her own forehead as well. The faint smell becoming known to her as her nose twitched. "Now, just put it on your forehead and close your eyes, and I'd advise thinking of a sick bag in your hands while you do so. These are my own design so the transition is a little rough and you might want it on arrival." Haisley explained before slumping forwards in her chair without a sound in front of him.
"I~ there she goes..." Hati frowned as he saw the antisocial little hacker collapse, taking a moment to look over the device handed to him before the wolf quickly removed his armoured vest and then attached the thing to his forehead, leaning his lanky body onto the desk and shutting both eyes while thinking about a sick bag - surely it couldn't be that bad.
Though it would simply look like he fell asleep, to Hati's mind it would feel like he was suddenly yanked down and around, moving in random directions with sickening speeds before an instant change. The experience only lasted several seconds before the wolf would collapse onto the floor of a backstage hallway, surrounded by doors and the dull throb of nearby music.
Haisely stood leaning against the wall, although she looked completely different to usual. Dressed from head to toe in punk rock attire with a rigid tall collar, her pink hair now transformed into a huge mohawk with streaks of blue running through it. The Nepleslian grinned down at the poor man and offered a hand. "We'll soon get you into something much better looking than your boring self, feeling ok down there?"
He couldn't help but wretch a little from the jarring transition, it felt like being thrown into a tumble dryer with a bunch of loose gravity plating so the wolf took a moment to ensure nothing was going to come up before his gaze travelled up to the visage of Haisley, smirking a little as he accepted the hand and hoisted himself up. "Hey c'mon now, I like the way I look... question, did you just kinda eyeball this avatar?" the wolf asked once on his feet, patting down his body that felt more or less the same before turning away from the Nepleslian to cast a quick glance under his own pants.
Haisely laughed, properly laughed, her entire personality seemed to change when she was in here, in her own space where she felt comfortable. "I'm not a pervert, this version of you is just a basic map the membrane makes when you wear it so no need to worry if I tapped the cameras on your equipment. As for the model, it's not based on your usual appearance, i base them off of personality and unique traits. So." The girl brought up a floating console before her and tapped a couple of buttons, scrolling through her collection she found the Hati model and flicked it towards him.
The transition would be seamless for the wolf man, but immediately his figure became more refined, upper body growing slightly bigger with more prominent arm and torso muscles. The ears became slightly larger and tougher while his eyes glowed more brightly, the clothing changing into dark leather motorcycle attire, and finally several strange cyberpunk styled weapons appeared on his back and hips along with some slightly longer teeth.
”Its not quite done, but that’s usually how first impressions go right?”
Hati took a moment to look over his new, more exaggerated form, casting a glance down at the fluffy limb that stuck to his toned flank as he turned back around to face Haisley, the difference in their height having increased Hati smirked slightly before speaking, "I must say, it's rather nice but... where has this side of you been hiding away?" the wolf asked his feline companion, head still cocking to the side each time he asked a question, almost like a puppy - but it was hard to deny, this Haisley seemed like a more social creature.
“Oh you know, just around. I’m just more at home when it’s the place I control. But, and you don’t need to uh check under the hood for this one, can you guess why you look like you do? Cause it’d be real awkward if you had no clue.”
"Fair enough, everyone has their little things," Hati answered with an understanding nod before answering her question, still checking out the new body a bit as he spoke, "I understand most of it is just an exaggeration yeah, like the ears and eyes and stuff~ I mentioned I liked tinkering with weapons and armour but I don't get where the leather and muscles come into it," the normally rather lean and agile wolf admitted, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her mohawk.
“Well, your personality reminds me of a tough biker, when we met you didn’t back down at all and it gave me the impression of a tough biker type guy. Muscles included heh, and given that its my server room all your physical traits of the avatar directly translate to ability.” Haisely explained, hopping up on a chair that hadn’t been there before and swinging her legs while watching him get used to the new body.
"Makes sense, yeah, makes sense - it's weird how real everything is, haven't done anything like this before," he mused, having felt like he had finally gotten a feel for the new body and the dimensions it carried Hati's arms folded across his broad chest and the wolf let out a thoughtful little sound while glancing down at Haisley, "So what do we do now? I assume more than just laze around?" Hati asked, though admittedly that didn't sound half bad either.
“Well i can give you the tour? Or you can watch one of my games I have coming up, oh right I never explained how I actually get money did I? Basically people nominate their systems for me to crack and the audience bets on how long it will take with me getting a commission fee plus time bonus.” The rock girl explained before gunslinging a guitar from her back and playing several chords.
"Tour would be nice for if you ever decide I'm allowed back in here," he smirked a little while looking over the way her hands danced over the guitar's surface, Hati had figured he'd maybe want to try an instrument at some point but never really followed it up yet.
“Anyone can join the public lobbies I host, backstage is invite only but given we work together you may get a pass if you’re cool.” She said giving him a wink, turning on the heels of her massive boots to head further down the hall. “First, the stage.”
The wink made this bigger version of Hati hitch up his eyebrows a little out of surprise before the wolf's heavy footfalls began moving along behind the brightly-haired punk rocker before him - given both his appearance and Haisley's own Hati assumed it was safe to say she was big into the whole cyberpunk aesthetic. "Well I'll try to not fuck up too much then," he offered with a small chuckle, still thinking about that wink for a hot second.
“As a galactic rockstar, my public appearance is very crucial, for that reason I throw the biggest and baddest virtual meetups and parties ever. Currently we’re standing backstage of my concert hall and heading to the stage, hope you’re not scared of the spotlight.” Haisely said with a large grin, throwing open the end door and stepping out into the bright lights, the sounds of screaming and whistling filling the space immediately as more fans poured into the seating area.
He couldn't help but squint a little as the wolf's senses were assaulted, bright lights shining in his face with a wall of noise from the crowd hitting his ears it was certainly unexpected - the glowing red orbs remained not quite shut for a moment longer as he adjusted to it all before casting over the crowd... certainly was a lot of people but Hati seemed to be caught less off guard by this than he was by the wink moments ago, his gaze drifted across to regard the Nepleslian with a small smirk, "Not scared, some warning might have been nice," he offered back before waiting to see how this would all play out.
“Sorry, I always get carried away with an entrance!” She shouted back over the noise before running out onto the large stage and sliding on her knees, shredding the guitar as she went which seemed to trigger the pyrotechnics. Haisely had noticed the faintest difference in Hati but couldn’t tell what it was or why, he’d say something if it was an issue. “Get out here, they wanna see you.”
"Eh~" Hati muttered for a second, his occupation and entire existence revolved around remaining deadly silent so it took him a moment to think of some kind of entrance - the wolf darted forwards into a sprint, spinning on his heel midway through the stride so that he now face away from the stage Hati pushed off of the ground, carrying the momentum into the execution of a tight flip that turned him the right way around in the air again. The movement was slightly more difficult than usual due to this newfound center of gravity but the execution was still smooth and the wolf landed in a low crouch with his tail stuck out for stability before he asked, "How's that?"
Punk Haisely gave an applause as the wolf turned to her, nodding at the crowd with a huge grin, who all joined in as well. "Not bad rookie, we'll make a star out of you yet." The girl turned back to the crowd and played a quick riff before letting the instrument hang at her waist. "Thank you everyone, as you know I don't have a scheduled game until later tonight, until then enjoy the DJ soundtrack and hang out in the lobbies, I'll see you all again later!" The girl turned back to Hati and put a hand on his shoulder, suddenly they were standing in a plushy lounge with several sofas, a jukebox and a small bar on one side. "Well, congrats big man, you managed to not puke on your first time through my makeshift virtual device, and you've already gotten accustomed to your avatar. Anything else you wanna try before we leave?" She asked, flopping onto a large bean bag.
He took a moment to blink a few times, still not quite used to suddenly apperating into existence before rising up to a stand, turning to Haisley with maybe the most enthusiastic grin she'd seen out of him so far, "Just... I dunno, chill with this version of you for a bit? you're quite the enigma, Haisley," Hati offered with a shrug to the short pink-haired punk while moving a little closer to the bean-bag she was flopped on.
"Well then, grab yourself a drink by all means, won't affect your real world body but it sure tastes good. Got non alcoholic stuff to although its impossible to get drunk without switching off the safety." The girl laid back and in a matter of moments her apparel changed, from her punk rock style avatar to a more reserved looking character. Now the girl looked like her normal self albeit dressed in black from her neck down, and her ears looked a little more real than the metal versions she had in reality.
"Reckon I might save that for next time, not feeling quite that adventurous at the moment," Hati chuckled a little as he fwomped onto the other side of that same beanbag Haisley was seated on, being careful to not crush the girl under his new hunky body as the boy looked for a way to likewise go back to his usual self, "So I already know a good bit about you, anything you were wondering about me?" Hati asked her, shrinking back down to his usual self and crossing both arms behind his neck, looking up a little to see the top of Haisley's head while his lupine tail lazily folded over the boy's lap.
"Hmm, if I had to name one thing, what's the whole fenrir thing mentioned in your files you gave me earlier? And can I touch your tail, in the real world I mean. Weird question yeah but I'm sure you've guessed I don't really have inhibitions in here so it's easier to ask the weird questions." Haisely flashed him a smile noticing that he was looking towards her. "Oh and yes, I do go back to being an awkward bitch when we leave too." From a small fridge beside her, she pulled a can of cool drink and finished the remaining liquid in one swig, tossing it onto a large pile behind her.
"I understand, you said you felt more comfortable in here so," Hati shrugged again before rolling over onto his front, the boy's breath faintly tickling her ears as he offered a small smile back and began explaining. "Well it's kind of messy but I'll explain the best I can uh, short version is some company made fifty male clones and fifty female vat-born soldiers but we all got put on ice for a bit, only thawing out once Jack-off Pine found us - we all were programmed to be machine like and besides a mis-coloured trio they're all the same - which might explain why you've been seeing a lot of the same people running around if you've seen them at all," the wolf paused for a second as his chin was lowered to the bean-bag, ears drooping a little along with the man's expression.
"I was the fiftieth male clone and the only one of my kind, barely even human, let alone related to the others, but Mum... uh, Sarah Pine, never treated me differently... shit's real tough with her gone," Hati went silent for another moment, the faintest of whines reaching Haisley's ears as the wolf squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds before finally adding.
"...anyway yeah~ I kinda don't mind being around you so feel free to do what you want, ears too if you were going to ask..."
“Huh, shit sounds like it sucked pretty bad for you from the get go, sorry to hear that. But you seem like a survivor, I reckon you'll get through it alright.” She said with enthusiasm, giving him a pat on the back. Unfortunately the Nepleslian couldn't quite sympathise with losing a parent, she somewhat hated hers on top of not knowing them. “Here’s another one, you look like a pretty scary guy, how come you’re ok around me of all people, not to mention the tail and ears.”
Hati let out an appreciative little sigh as he felt Haisley's hand against his back, lifting his chin off the bean-bag a little to speak further, "I just... thanks, just need to get my head around it," the wolf sniffed a little and refocused his eyes on her with a warm look before continuing. "I just don't like being called a cat myself because well I'm not one, you're not like other people but in a good way~ and I have no reason to not like you despite our rough introduction~" he smirked a little at the memory of his brash 'metal bitch' comment while crawling across to now lay alongside her, the Nepleslian's presence came as a bit of a comfort in these rough times.
"So basically because I am an antisocial and generally unpleasant little horror, you think I'm better than most people. Good to know, and for the record you're not as bad as you could have been, just don't ever push your luck and you won't get your eyes clawed out kay?" Haisely replied, still quite aware of how close he was getting but not as tense as outside her virtual world. She was guessing he just wanted to be near someone who wasn't going to give him a hard time over his physical appearance, she could respect that though she silently hoped he didn't try it outside the VR or he might get another rude awakening.
"Thanks, and yeah I know there's no chance of you being into anything like... this," Hati spoke, gesturing to the two of them with his hand before continuing, "~outside of this simulation, but just so you know, I wouldn't call you an unpleasant little horror - unique? sure, why not? but I've had a mostly good time being here with you," the wolf finished, turning his head to the Nepleslian to offer her a warm smile as one ear flicked absentmindedly.
Haisely nodded, he understood which was good, it was bad enough that she didn't really like having company without scaring off the few people she could tolerate. "Yeah thats just the world rather than me, I come in here and get lost for days, weeks even, just enjoying everything you can do with so much freedom. I guess I should warn you not to be surprised if I don't respond to any messages for weeks at a time, I'm usually just in here." She replied, not many people had smiled at her without getting a scowl in return for some other action they'd committed, making Hati one of the lucky ones so far.
"It's lucky I don't message often then, but c'mon, give yourself some credit - I mean yeah it might be freedom... but it's what you do with that freedom that makes you kinda cool, I say kinda because I feel like if I compliment you too much I might wake up with claws in my chest," the wolf offered with a sigh, his raven brows furrowing a little as he observed the odd organism of a being that Haisley was.
"Also, if you ever need an extra set of hands in here, just hit me up - yeah?"
"You're not wrong, I'm not one for flattery, too much attention so its a good way of getting stabbed yes. Less chance of it in here though." She mused, throwing another wink to see if her hunch was correct about the last one. "I'll be sure to send for you if I need you to hold the vault open for me, I'm only a little girl after all and the doors are so heavy."
Being so much closer to him now and in adequate lighting she'd be able to see the tiniest bit of pink flush to his cheeks as Hati somewhat awkwardly turned away from the flutter of Haisley's eyelid, a small sigh that devolved into a chuckle escaping his chest as the wolf tried to play it off, "Well a big strong... whatever the hell I am like me can certainly do that for you, anything else you might need too, probably."
Haisely had a raised eyebrow of her own as he turned away, getting flustered over a wink was new though perhaps he wasn't quite used to her attitude inside her own world yet. Or no one else ever winked at him. "Sounds like a plan, I think it's about time we got out of here though or I'm gonna have to eat a cold burger. I know it seems like we've been in here for quite some time but, its complicated, basically because of the system I use this place runs on faster time than the real world, so its only been a couple minutes so far." Haisely said leaping up and landing in a crouch, "Just think about a big red 'end program' button or something to you that signifies returning to real world, should appear in front of you." She briefly explained before slapping her own instant off button and vanishing.
Hati sat up and watched her fade into the ether so suddenly with a small smirk, shaking his head as the wolf conjured up a big mental lever and pulled it - his consciousness being thrown back into his body was a much less graceful experience than it had been for him going in. The boy sat bolt-upright and ripped the thing from his forehead, blinking a few times and clearly out of it before quickly clawing for the bag their food had been delivered in, proceeding to... put his own burger back in, a few moments of retching and gagging as his guts were emptied into it.
Haisely sat on her chair, knees pulled up to her chest just like before as she watched him suffer from first time use of the brutal tech. Seemingly undisturbed she continued to eat her own burger, "You ok." The girl said, clearly more out of courtesy than concern as she turned back to her tablet, someone had turned the lights on while they were gone which was not something she had expected, the cameras would be able to tell her who. After a moment she saw some security guy move through and flick them on without even glancing inside the room they were in, at least he hadn't stared at them.
He spat once to get the taste of bile out of his maw, wiping lips against the back of his palm as Hati tied the bag off and turned back around to face her - fluffy ears drooping low to his head after the experience as a weak smile was offered, "Yeah... Yeah I'm good now, sorry," the wolf spoke before moving to dispose of the bag in a trashcan just outside the room, quickly returning to his seat with red eyes that traced up and down the Nepleslian.
Haisely watched him from her seat, not moving much until he returned, pulling out a small disk and holding it out to him. "This is your avatar, on a disk so you can use it in any virtual setting. I don't have spare headgear though." She said while collecting his discarded membrane and pocketing it once more. "People sell them, around the place."
"Cheers~" Hati mused as his crimson gaze shifted to the disk, holding it up for inspection and rolling it over a few times in his hand before moving to stow it in a pocket, "I'll see if I even need one, I have a geist so..." he continued, gesturing to the back of his neck before both hands rested in the boy's lap, thinking back to the request she had made as his fluffy tail rose up for Haisley to inspect.
"Still want to touch it?"
The girls eyes locked onto the tail as he spoke, reaching out slowly to run her fingers through it, enjoying the soft feeling of a real tail. Haisely shook her head afterwards though and lulled back her hand, "Geists and internal devices don't work, it'll fry your brain from the direct physical connection it had. Imagine that sickness only it goes through your neck and right into your spine and brain, its somewhat dangerous tech."
He'd visibly relaxed a little as her hand broke through the stiffer outer coat to the soft as sin fur beneath, a small sound of contentment under her touch and only wishing it lasted a little longer before he spoke, "That... sounds unpleasant yeah, I'll grab a helmet or something," he mused, glancing over at her setup once more before continuing, "So how does your thingy compare to something off a shelf?" the wolf asked, tail settling over his lap idly.
"Well, it's still technically off the shelf, the back shelf that is. It's basically just the crucial component from a helmet or other clunky device with a few extras tacked on, the direct mental link and body inhibitor." Haisely said, standing up on her chair with practiced ease and balance before reaching out to rub his ears.
"I don't want to sound rude~ do you want an upgrade?" The wolf asked with ears that had perked up in the presence of Haisley's hands, another small sound of contentment rumbling up his throat as it became clearer just how much animal there was in him - though Hati's eyes were fixed on the way she moved, graceful and purposeful, he'd almost liken it to his own stride when barefoot.
The girl cocked her head to one side. "How do you mean?"
"Well, I can get you something from a shelf closer to the front if you want?" he queried back, head likewise cocking to the side to mirror hers.
"As long as it's not some clunky helmet, and I can fit it in my pocket for on the go. Sure." She replied, giving the ears a scratch to see how he reacted.
"I'll see what they've got~" he responded before leaning a little further into her hand, eyes closing as the toes of one booted foot tapped against the floor rhythmically.
Haisely continued rubbing the ears for a few more moments, she did like the feel of them after all and if he was enjoying it then it was win win right? "Sounds good." Eventually she stopped however and hopped off her chair, grabbing her tablet and heading over to one of the server consoles. "I should be getting back to work now, and you have trouble to find."
Hati's eyes opened up again as he gave her a nod, massively dilated pupils settling back down to a normal size as the tall wolf stood up, "Right yeah, I'll let you get back to it then," Hati agreed with her, slinging the carbine over his chest and gripping the heavy-plated vest by the carrying handle with ease as he spoke again, "See you whenever I guess."
"Room 10." She said quickly, "Just, don't tell anyone else, used to have problems with people breaking through the door a while ago..."
"Room 74," he responded, a few slow nods before he reached down for the door and spoke once more, "Why would I tell anyone?" Hati softly smirked before making his leave, silently padding down the hallway as the fluffy tail retreated back into his shorts and the beanie was pulled over his ears once more.
Hati sighed as he walked down yet another hallway, carbine hanging over the vest on his torso with standard security fatigues under that and his telltale beanie over that shaggy mess of raven hair... truth be told the genetic freak had no idea why he had brought the beanie, nobody was around to see the ears hidden beneath them nor the fluffy tail that freely bobbed behind his rear with each step but he had, probably some precaution.
The young man walked up to one of the server farm's security doors and swiped his finger over the scanner, expecting a beep as he moved to walk though but instead the door gave an angry sound and marked a failed security check - so he tried again... same thing, anger was beginning to rise as a low growl left his slightly snarling mouth and the wolf's gloved hand curled up into a fist.
bonk
It knocked on the viewport once, then a few more times to check if anybody was there~ he hated getting help but Hati knew he'd hate tripping the security systems even more.
Inside the room, Haisely was lounging around on her stack of pillows as usual with ears and tail out, casually playing a game on her tablet. Despite being able to have ingame screens showing the real world but Jack had insisted she not go into her virtual world while inside the room. The girl looked up when she heard the banging on the window with a scowl, tossing the pad aside she tapped a button on her arm to unlock the doors for the strange thing outside.
"who are you, why don't you just get a DNA sample setup in the system." She said with a bored tone, not bothering to get out of her makeshift bed as her ears swiveled to face Hati.
Hati's red eyes widened a little as the door opened up so suddenly, his tail quickly retracting back through the slit in the back of his cargo shorts before the young wolf looked around the room a little~ the ears and eyes caught him off guard, and after a few sniffs of the warm air the lanky human-looking man spoke, "I have~ shit just doesn't want to work half the time... whatever, I need to do a few sweeps of the area," Hati's words came off as almost a low growl of annoyance.
"How come I didn't know about it then." Her metal tail swept low on the floor around her with a soft grating sound, her cat-like cybernetic eyes scanning over the person, noticing the slight outline of a tail before her gaze returned to the tablet previously discarded.
"Because I'm taking over for F-11... look, just check the roster and you should see the name Hati," he spoke, walking into the room a little more and presenting the name on his vest, sure enough it read Hati and his eyes traced the movements of her tail slowly while waiting for this seemingly lazy technician to confirm he was supposed to be here.
Haisely rolled her eyes which returned to looking like a normal persons during the motion and rolled onto her back. "Whatever, just don't bother me." She returned to her tablet and continued playing her game, cracking a smile at it now and then. Glancing over at the security man she narrowed her eyes once more. "Aren't you going to get started?"
"Yeah whatever, just stay there and don't annoy me too much," Hati spat back at her, eyes similarly narrowing as he held her gaze, not wanting to be the one to look away first - his slightly pronounced canine teeth showing themselves slightly as the man's mouth shifted into the slightest snarl.
"Like I could annoy you anymore than you already look, I promise I wont turn the lights off and scare you ok?" Haisely replied with a forced sweet tone, giving a fake smile in the process before curling up in her sweater and pulling the hood over her ears. "You're not very scary with your fake teeth either, claws are much more practical."
"...Fake~" Hati repeated, one dark eyebrow raising up as the boy's back straightened, tilting his head to the side a little before letting a heavy breath leave his lungs, material of one glove creaking as the balled-up fist tightened. "You're right, you are real fucking annoying - have fun fiddling with the lights," the boy growled back, moving to the other door and maintaining eye contact for as long as possible as the man muttered under his breath, "metal bitch."
"I'm so scared of insults, go do your boring sweeps already so I can go to bed." She shot back from her cushion prison. Just to see his expression she switched off the lights, her tablet glowing in the dark. Haisely knew that annoying him would only prolong his stay but she hadn't had a chance to tease anyone since she was first introduced to Seraphina
Everything went dark save for the tablet and the tapetum lucidum of Hati's eyes as they caught the faint light, two orbs that burnt into Haisley for a moment longer before he went into the server farm with a faint smirk on his features, a triumphant one and in the darkness Hati let his tail slip back out for the sake of comfort.
"So you do have a tail, why'd you hide it?" Came the soft voice from the blankets in the corner.
He paused, turning to look over one shoulder before shrugging, made sense her eyes were for more than just show but admittedly in his moment the wolf had forgotten about them, "Why not? people are fucking annoying when they see it," he grumped, still walking between the rows of servers in the room that ran around where Halsey was sitting.
"Well, why hide it when the only other person here has a metal one, as you so kindly pointed out before. Just seems pointless to me." Haisely left the lights off, clearly he didn't need them to see and obviously felt better about being himself in the dark, while she was a nuisance she could respect another person like herself. "So what're you sweeping for?"
"I mean, you're still just another person, you still have the capacity to be annoying about it so why bother?" he sighed, squatting down to tug slightly against a grate before the wolf stood back up to continue his route, it wasn't so much he was appreciative of the dark for any self-image reasons~ but he just... really didn't want anybody mistaking him for a neko, last person almost ended up in a hospital if Spark hadn't been there to stop him.
"Making sure there aren't any bugs or taps or whatever anywhere," he replied, showing little to no interest in the Nepleslian's position here.
"Do you want me to be annoying about it then?" Haisely asked sarcastically, "I don't know about bugs and wires, I'm here most of the time but there is some times I leave for food I guess, or play games." The answered, almost helpfully. "You got ears too?"
"Duly noted~" Hati reciprocated as he checked one final vent, squatting down on toned legs to pull at the grating before rising up once more to begin making his way back over to the monitoring room - sniffing slightly as he entered, sure she was a bitch at the start but it seemed Haisley's mood had changed a bit, of course the wolf didn't fully trust her but he still answered, "Yeah two of them, and all this other shit... what do you have?"
"Tail, ears, eyes and claws." She replied, wiggling the mentioned extremities around and showing off the claws, she could tell he was nearby at least without looking. "The metal bitch is a new one though." The girl stopped herself from saying more, she didn't know this guy yet they were now holding a proper conversation and that, was not something she felt like figuring out right now. "How much longer." Came the slightly colder question.
"Yeah well it was an accurate name at the time and I stand by that, I've got - tail, ears, nose, funky pheromones, eyes that can do the same shit power armour can, lack of a lactic acid system, and a bunch more stuff you probably don't want to hear, just waiting until it all falls apart honestly," Hati huffed as his brooding response, kicking a plastic cap a little before moving to answer her question.
"This was the last sub-floor I had to check so I'm off duty now, so that's that~"
Well then looked like his short visit would be done, but she was still a little intrigued, much as she hated to admit interest in another living thing. At the very least she wanted to know a little more about his personality so she could make another unused model out of him to put in her collection. "So off to bed then, I suppose you sleep in the light given you enjoy the dark."
"I was asleep before but, I'm awake now so might as well mess with my guns or armour or something - if you were wondering, dark is just less of a strain on my eyes," Hati shrugged at the Nepleslian catgirl, not sure if he should go or if she was trying to get him to keep talking.
"Must suck, not able to switch them off." She mused, "Do you have any snacks."
"Eh I can kinda, but it's just easier," the glowing-eyed genetic freak mused as he reached into his vest, opening a pouch that had a few muesli bars before he tossed one onto the pillow infront of her.
Haisely accepted the morsel by way of nodding and unwrapped the snack. It seemed they’d come to a common understanding about where each of them stood in relation to the other. She supposed he wasn’t so bad. “Do you have any actual interesting hobbies?” The Nepleslian asked with a smug grin, munching away.
"Finding trouble I guess but nothing really besides that," Hati reciprocated, arms crossing over his chest as he gave the girl a sideways look before asking, "Well you already know my name, am I going to get yours?"
"Well you don't get anything without asking, Haisely Goenkof. Don't acknowledge me in public or I'll deny knowing you, it's just a habit." She said, shrugging as though it was normal. The girl pondered something for a moment, "What kind of trouble?"
Hati nodded at this strange girl's name, committing it to memory before answering her question with a little shrug of his own, "Sneaking around where I don't belong, the occasion fight and then yelling at our oh so high and mighty Jackoff Pine - can't stand that guy," he admitted.
"Then why are you here?" She asked, intrigued as to why he would stick around, though with his unique appearance perhaps this place was the only one he'd found where he wasn't judged, as badly. "Seems there's a few people who don't like him, do you like money at least?"
"Money's arbitrary, but there are a few people I like here that make his insufferable ways worth it," Hati spoke before his eyes shifted to the ground, a small sniff and a few blinks before he continued speaking. "Well... with recent events, one less," the wolf muttered with a forlorn sigh before his eyes went back to Haisley, head cocking to one side curiously, "What about you, why are you here?"
"Stowed away a while ago, back when they used to be on a dust bowl. Stealing food to survive while I earnt money through various jobs, for some reason Jack decided to hire me after I punched him, then he whacked me with his gun and I couldn't see straight for days." The pseudo neko replied, assuming the recent events he mentioned was the death of Sarah, by now everyone had heard about it.
"Did you get him good?"
"Yeah, kinda. I'm not a fighter."
"You're a Nepleslian though no? or at least you look and smell like one- I hear they are naturally good at that kind of thing," Hati mused back as a thoughtful look danced onto his porcelain features, clearly contemplating something.
"I'm also a midget girl incase your eyes are that bad you didn't notice, not my proudest feature but I'm agile and fast rather than strong and enduring. And growing up on the streets as small as me meant I developed a brain unlike the regular thugs."
"You're also buried under half a bed and wearing a giant hoodie, how am I supposed to know what's hidden away under there?" Hati replied with a small huff out his nose before clearing his throat, looking at the short girl for a moment longer and then continuing, "Do you think you'd be able to fix up my biometrics profile for the security and stuff? I mean you don't have to, but you're not exactly doing much else right now."
“You caught me, i'm actually an ID-SOL and about to break you in two.” She replied with a smirk, sitting up cross legged and folding the hood back to reveal her fairly plain face with her ears poking through the hair. “Sure, I could, but I’m the metal bitch so what do I get?”
He smirked a little too, moreso at the second part but replied with a shrug before Hati's ands settled in the pockets of his cargo shorts, "Hell if I know what you want out of this, metal bitch," the wolf smirked a little more, the lupine tail slowly swishing from side to side.
“Hmm, how about an IOU?”
"...I get the feeling owing you anything would only end poorly, is there anything you want like - right now instead?" the wolf asked, eyes narrowing a little at Haisley.
"You afraid of me or something? Not like I'm gonna ask you to rob a bank with me over such an easy task on my side of the deal. But if you insist then probably, food?" The girl said suggestively, tugging at her worn hoodie which looked like it hadn't been taken off in a long time.
"Not scared so much as I just don't want to have to deal with it later if that makes sense, so what do you want to eat? honestly I might get myself something too," Hati asked as he opened up a browser on his geist, paying no mind to the state of her hoodie because honestly a few of his weren't much better.
"Scaredy cat." Haisley shot back quickly, hopping up to sit in her swivel chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and observing the strange man, boy, person in front of her. "Just a burger." Haisely responded while pulling up her own tablet, she'd opted out of getting a geist shoved in her head, too messy and she had to either get a new body or endure way too much pain. Instead she just opened her access point to the network and began to fiddle with the biometric profiles. "I need DNA data to match it too."
Hati might as well have been staring daggers into the pseudo catgirl after her name calling, something dark smouldering behind his eyes as the wolf made his immense hate of the name known, "Look~ you don't want me to acknowledge you in public... and I never want to hear you call me a cat again~ got it," he told her, coming off as more of a warning than a question.
"Oh, that hit a nerve didn't it, though it was more an expression than reference to your uh, makeup." Haisely said back, turning away from the scowling creature with a 'sheesh' expression before continuing on with her side of the deal. "Soooo, DNA data?"
"I just really don't like it okay," Hati shook his head before placing the digital order and moving a little closer to Haisley, visibly not as agitated as the wolf spoke again, "So do you need blood or something?"
"I mean, if you have something on hand to digitise the DNA so that computers can read it, Otherwise any exisiting samples that've been uploaded and have a digital copy I can use to update the profile." Well, if he hated cats so much why was she still sitting here.
"Ah right, my bad uh~ give me one second," the wolf spoke as a look of concentration overtook his features, Hati went through his geist's available data on his body and soon enough sent the encrypted file over to Haisley's machine, it was a rather messy genetic sequence that looked a few moments away from tearing itself apart - though the most first thing to stand out to her was the fact he was labeled as a Fenrir clone, nothing the young man had brought up but suddenly the red eyes and a few facial features made sense.
"Does that work for you?"
"Yep" She replied, categorising the whole lot of different whatsits into numbers for simple minded scanners to understand. Of course they'd have clones here, though if they were all like him she would be more than happy to stay away from them. "Right, should be done, just need to reboot the system in each area now, which I can only do with authorisation and uhhhh, you know what I'm just gonna reboot it one spot at a time, authorisation be damned."
"Yeah you don't seem like the kind to wait for authorisation... thanks though, I appreciate it," Hati admitted, resting his hands on the back of Haisley's seat as he looked at the screen over her shoulder for a moment. "Food should be here soon too, well back at the security checkpoint but yeah~" he spoke a little awkwardly before sighing, it would be good to have the doors actually work for him.
The Nepleslian stiffened when the hand found its way to her chair back, he may not like being called a cat but this cat didn't like physical contact any way shape or form, and that hand was very close. That and she couldn't swivel her chair now either which wasn't cool. "Sounds uh, great. How long?"
Sensing the shift in energy coming from the small Nepleslian, Hati retracted his hands quickly to bury them in his pockets and take a step back, "It said three minutes, but you know how they can be with that kinda stuff~" he answered, moving to lean up against one wall.
The girl relaxed slightly once more and let out a breath she had been holding in unconsciously, "Not really, I've never ordered food and collected it before."
"Ah, my bad... so I get that you're into computers and stuff, but what else do you get up to?" he queried, fiddling with the beanie atop his head a little bit before just pulling it off to reveal two very wolven ears that sprung up lazily, dark like his hair and tail with white fluff coming out of them - ruffling the shaggy mop a little as he looked over to her.
Haisely took note of the ears and subconsciously reached up to brush over her own cat-like metal ones. "...Robbing banks?" Came the very vague reply, despite her earlier joke robbing banks was something she'd done before though not in the way most people would assume. The pink haired girl had a brief thought of touching them but figured unless he was strapped down she'd lose the hand.
Hati smirked a little at her answer, playing it off as some joke about what she'd said earlier- but then he thought on it some more and one of the ears flicked idly, a frown crossing his features as the young wolf cocked his head at her, "...Really?"
"Oh yeah, a few times, latest one was just before you got in actually. What time and, day, is it?"
"It's like... almost two in the morning on a tuesday, so you're that one person in a heist movie that does all the computer stuff or am I missing something here? ehhh~ actually hold that thought," the wolf stopped himself, straightening up his posture and thinking for a moment longer before giving his final verdict on what he thought was going on.
"I'm guessing you steal virtual currency instead?"
"Bingo, I rob banks of virtual possessions, data manipulation and balance redistribution. Also information when they have it, and all the stuff I steal I throw away. I prefer to earn my keep through legal means." She replied, rather proud of herself.
"Damn..." was all he could say for a moment, dark eyebrows hitched up out of surprise as Hati let out a low whistle. "That's actually pretty cool, if I'm being honest here, and there isn't much that impresses me," he complimented the short Nep before glancing off to something that wasn't physically there, a notification from his geist.
"Food is here, one moment," he explained, putting the beanie back on before momentarily disappearing around the corner, tail slinking back into his shorts.
Haisely watched him leave with inquisitive eyes, usually people weren't terribly impressed by her ability to break through online security, they were more impressed with physical feats but apparently Hati was different. The pink haired girl sat in her chair and spun round a few times while she waited, so far she'd managed to collect a bit of info about what kind of person he was and with that in mind she set about designing his avatar.
It wasn't too long before Hati came almost silently jogging back with food, stuffing his wallet back into his pocket with one hand as the boy's tail flopped along behind him - a plastic bag held in his mouth Hati reached for the door and much to his delight it opened first try, so the wolf entered the room and began transferring the bag back to his hands with a query of, "What are you working on?"
"Avatars, mostly. Why did you carry it with your mouth?"
"...my hands were busy?" it just made sense to him, hands were busy why not use your mouth - it was only the straps anyway so it barely mattered as Hati dropped the thought and moved to better inspect the screen, putting Haisley's wrapped up burger on the table next to her before rooting around for his own food.
"Well what are they for? the avatars, that is."
"Just my collection, I use my own for jobs and entertainment and..." The girl paused for a moment and looked off into the distance. "I also like to make models based on people i have the unfortunate displeasure of interacting with." Haisely said, tipping her head from side to side to punctuate the words. "No offence, I just sort of hate social interactions with almost everyone."
"None taken," Hati mused with a half-devoured burger in one hand as he dragged a stool over with the other to sit next to the Nep without invading her personal space bubble. "I know what you mean with the 'almost everyone' thing, people are just... whatever, like I said no offence taken," he shared before going back to attacking the large burger in hand, Haisley's screen reflecting off his red eyes as he studied it keenly.
Haisely took hold of her own burger and unwrapped a small portion at one point and took a nibble, tasted like all burgers did, bland. But she ate it none the less like she always did. Since being found and hired, only one other person had seen inside her virtual world and used the avatar she'd modeled on them, "Did you, want to see?" She asked cautiously, turning her head up to look at the wolf .
Hati looked back at her with the last mouthful of his burger, chewing it a few times and then swallowing before he responded, "See the Avatar you made of me? yeah uh, sure, don't see why not," he offered with a faint smile, being so close to him it had become a little more evident there was the faintest scent only barely perceivable by her nose - nothing unpleasant but just different.
"Here, put this on." She said, handing him a thin membrane patch with a copper frame, placing one on her own forehead as well. The faint smell becoming known to her as her nose twitched. "Now, just put it on your forehead and close your eyes, and I'd advise thinking of a sick bag in your hands while you do so. These are my own design so the transition is a little rough and you might want it on arrival." Haisley explained before slumping forwards in her chair without a sound in front of him.
"I~ there she goes..." Hati frowned as he saw the antisocial little hacker collapse, taking a moment to look over the device handed to him before the wolf quickly removed his armoured vest and then attached the thing to his forehead, leaning his lanky body onto the desk and shutting both eyes while thinking about a sick bag - surely it couldn't be that bad.
Though it would simply look like he fell asleep, to Hati's mind it would feel like he was suddenly yanked down and around, moving in random directions with sickening speeds before an instant change. The experience only lasted several seconds before the wolf would collapse onto the floor of a backstage hallway, surrounded by doors and the dull throb of nearby music.
Haisely stood leaning against the wall, although she looked completely different to usual. Dressed from head to toe in punk rock attire with a rigid tall collar, her pink hair now transformed into a huge mohawk with streaks of blue running through it. The Nepleslian grinned down at the poor man and offered a hand. "We'll soon get you into something much better looking than your boring self, feeling ok down there?"
He couldn't help but wretch a little from the jarring transition, it felt like being thrown into a tumble dryer with a bunch of loose gravity plating so the wolf took a moment to ensure nothing was going to come up before his gaze travelled up to the visage of Haisley, smirking a little as he accepted the hand and hoisted himself up. "Hey c'mon now, I like the way I look... question, did you just kinda eyeball this avatar?" the wolf asked once on his feet, patting down his body that felt more or less the same before turning away from the Nepleslian to cast a quick glance under his own pants.
Haisely laughed, properly laughed, her entire personality seemed to change when she was in here, in her own space where she felt comfortable. "I'm not a pervert, this version of you is just a basic map the membrane makes when you wear it so no need to worry if I tapped the cameras on your equipment. As for the model, it's not based on your usual appearance, i base them off of personality and unique traits. So." The girl brought up a floating console before her and tapped a couple of buttons, scrolling through her collection she found the Hati model and flicked it towards him.
The transition would be seamless for the wolf man, but immediately his figure became more refined, upper body growing slightly bigger with more prominent arm and torso muscles. The ears became slightly larger and tougher while his eyes glowed more brightly, the clothing changing into dark leather motorcycle attire, and finally several strange cyberpunk styled weapons appeared on his back and hips along with some slightly longer teeth.
”Its not quite done, but that’s usually how first impressions go right?”
Hati took a moment to look over his new, more exaggerated form, casting a glance down at the fluffy limb that stuck to his toned flank as he turned back around to face Haisley, the difference in their height having increased Hati smirked slightly before speaking, "I must say, it's rather nice but... where has this side of you been hiding away?" the wolf asked his feline companion, head still cocking to the side each time he asked a question, almost like a puppy - but it was hard to deny, this Haisley seemed like a more social creature.
“Oh you know, just around. I’m just more at home when it’s the place I control. But, and you don’t need to uh check under the hood for this one, can you guess why you look like you do? Cause it’d be real awkward if you had no clue.”
"Fair enough, everyone has their little things," Hati answered with an understanding nod before answering her question, still checking out the new body a bit as he spoke, "I understand most of it is just an exaggeration yeah, like the ears and eyes and stuff~ I mentioned I liked tinkering with weapons and armour but I don't get where the leather and muscles come into it," the normally rather lean and agile wolf admitted, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her mohawk.
“Well, your personality reminds me of a tough biker, when we met you didn’t back down at all and it gave me the impression of a tough biker type guy. Muscles included heh, and given that its my server room all your physical traits of the avatar directly translate to ability.” Haisely explained, hopping up on a chair that hadn’t been there before and swinging her legs while watching him get used to the new body.
"Makes sense, yeah, makes sense - it's weird how real everything is, haven't done anything like this before," he mused, having felt like he had finally gotten a feel for the new body and the dimensions it carried Hati's arms folded across his broad chest and the wolf let out a thoughtful little sound while glancing down at Haisley, "So what do we do now? I assume more than just laze around?" Hati asked, though admittedly that didn't sound half bad either.
“Well i can give you the tour? Or you can watch one of my games I have coming up, oh right I never explained how I actually get money did I? Basically people nominate their systems for me to crack and the audience bets on how long it will take with me getting a commission fee plus time bonus.” The rock girl explained before gunslinging a guitar from her back and playing several chords.
"Tour would be nice for if you ever decide I'm allowed back in here," he smirked a little while looking over the way her hands danced over the guitar's surface, Hati had figured he'd maybe want to try an instrument at some point but never really followed it up yet.
“Anyone can join the public lobbies I host, backstage is invite only but given we work together you may get a pass if you’re cool.” She said giving him a wink, turning on the heels of her massive boots to head further down the hall. “First, the stage.”
The wink made this bigger version of Hati hitch up his eyebrows a little out of surprise before the wolf's heavy footfalls began moving along behind the brightly-haired punk rocker before him - given both his appearance and Haisley's own Hati assumed it was safe to say she was big into the whole cyberpunk aesthetic. "Well I'll try to not fuck up too much then," he offered with a small chuckle, still thinking about that wink for a hot second.
“As a galactic rockstar, my public appearance is very crucial, for that reason I throw the biggest and baddest virtual meetups and parties ever. Currently we’re standing backstage of my concert hall and heading to the stage, hope you’re not scared of the spotlight.” Haisely said with a large grin, throwing open the end door and stepping out into the bright lights, the sounds of screaming and whistling filling the space immediately as more fans poured into the seating area.
He couldn't help but squint a little as the wolf's senses were assaulted, bright lights shining in his face with a wall of noise from the crowd hitting his ears it was certainly unexpected - the glowing red orbs remained not quite shut for a moment longer as he adjusted to it all before casting over the crowd... certainly was a lot of people but Hati seemed to be caught less off guard by this than he was by the wink moments ago, his gaze drifted across to regard the Nepleslian with a small smirk, "Not scared, some warning might have been nice," he offered back before waiting to see how this would all play out.
“Sorry, I always get carried away with an entrance!” She shouted back over the noise before running out onto the large stage and sliding on her knees, shredding the guitar as she went which seemed to trigger the pyrotechnics. Haisely had noticed the faintest difference in Hati but couldn’t tell what it was or why, he’d say something if it was an issue. “Get out here, they wanna see you.”
"Eh~" Hati muttered for a second, his occupation and entire existence revolved around remaining deadly silent so it took him a moment to think of some kind of entrance - the wolf darted forwards into a sprint, spinning on his heel midway through the stride so that he now face away from the stage Hati pushed off of the ground, carrying the momentum into the execution of a tight flip that turned him the right way around in the air again. The movement was slightly more difficult than usual due to this newfound center of gravity but the execution was still smooth and the wolf landed in a low crouch with his tail stuck out for stability before he asked, "How's that?"
Punk Haisely gave an applause as the wolf turned to her, nodding at the crowd with a huge grin, who all joined in as well. "Not bad rookie, we'll make a star out of you yet." The girl turned back to the crowd and played a quick riff before letting the instrument hang at her waist. "Thank you everyone, as you know I don't have a scheduled game until later tonight, until then enjoy the DJ soundtrack and hang out in the lobbies, I'll see you all again later!" The girl turned back to Hati and put a hand on his shoulder, suddenly they were standing in a plushy lounge with several sofas, a jukebox and a small bar on one side. "Well, congrats big man, you managed to not puke on your first time through my makeshift virtual device, and you've already gotten accustomed to your avatar. Anything else you wanna try before we leave?" She asked, flopping onto a large bean bag.
He took a moment to blink a few times, still not quite used to suddenly apperating into existence before rising up to a stand, turning to Haisley with maybe the most enthusiastic grin she'd seen out of him so far, "Just... I dunno, chill with this version of you for a bit? you're quite the enigma, Haisley," Hati offered with a shrug to the short pink-haired punk while moving a little closer to the bean-bag she was flopped on.
"Well then, grab yourself a drink by all means, won't affect your real world body but it sure tastes good. Got non alcoholic stuff to although its impossible to get drunk without switching off the safety." The girl laid back and in a matter of moments her apparel changed, from her punk rock style avatar to a more reserved looking character. Now the girl looked like her normal self albeit dressed in black from her neck down, and her ears looked a little more real than the metal versions she had in reality.
"Reckon I might save that for next time, not feeling quite that adventurous at the moment," Hati chuckled a little as he fwomped onto the other side of that same beanbag Haisley was seated on, being careful to not crush the girl under his new hunky body as the boy looked for a way to likewise go back to his usual self, "So I already know a good bit about you, anything you were wondering about me?" Hati asked her, shrinking back down to his usual self and crossing both arms behind his neck, looking up a little to see the top of Haisley's head while his lupine tail lazily folded over the boy's lap.
"Hmm, if I had to name one thing, what's the whole fenrir thing mentioned in your files you gave me earlier? And can I touch your tail, in the real world I mean. Weird question yeah but I'm sure you've guessed I don't really have inhibitions in here so it's easier to ask the weird questions." Haisely flashed him a smile noticing that he was looking towards her. "Oh and yes, I do go back to being an awkward bitch when we leave too." From a small fridge beside her, she pulled a can of cool drink and finished the remaining liquid in one swig, tossing it onto a large pile behind her.
"I understand, you said you felt more comfortable in here so," Hati shrugged again before rolling over onto his front, the boy's breath faintly tickling her ears as he offered a small smile back and began explaining. "Well it's kind of messy but I'll explain the best I can uh, short version is some company made fifty male clones and fifty female vat-born soldiers but we all got put on ice for a bit, only thawing out once Jack-off Pine found us - we all were programmed to be machine like and besides a mis-coloured trio they're all the same - which might explain why you've been seeing a lot of the same people running around if you've seen them at all," the wolf paused for a second as his chin was lowered to the bean-bag, ears drooping a little along with the man's expression.
"I was the fiftieth male clone and the only one of my kind, barely even human, let alone related to the others, but Mum... uh, Sarah Pine, never treated me differently... shit's real tough with her gone," Hati went silent for another moment, the faintest of whines reaching Haisley's ears as the wolf squeezed his eyes shut for a few seconds before finally adding.
"...anyway yeah~ I kinda don't mind being around you so feel free to do what you want, ears too if you were going to ask..."
“Huh, shit sounds like it sucked pretty bad for you from the get go, sorry to hear that. But you seem like a survivor, I reckon you'll get through it alright.” She said with enthusiasm, giving him a pat on the back. Unfortunately the Nepleslian couldn't quite sympathise with losing a parent, she somewhat hated hers on top of not knowing them. “Here’s another one, you look like a pretty scary guy, how come you’re ok around me of all people, not to mention the tail and ears.”
Hati let out an appreciative little sigh as he felt Haisley's hand against his back, lifting his chin off the bean-bag a little to speak further, "I just... thanks, just need to get my head around it," the wolf sniffed a little and refocused his eyes on her with a warm look before continuing. "I just don't like being called a cat myself because well I'm not one, you're not like other people but in a good way~ and I have no reason to not like you despite our rough introduction~" he smirked a little at the memory of his brash 'metal bitch' comment while crawling across to now lay alongside her, the Nepleslian's presence came as a bit of a comfort in these rough times.
"So basically because I am an antisocial and generally unpleasant little horror, you think I'm better than most people. Good to know, and for the record you're not as bad as you could have been, just don't ever push your luck and you won't get your eyes clawed out kay?" Haisely replied, still quite aware of how close he was getting but not as tense as outside her virtual world. She was guessing he just wanted to be near someone who wasn't going to give him a hard time over his physical appearance, she could respect that though she silently hoped he didn't try it outside the VR or he might get another rude awakening.
"Thanks, and yeah I know there's no chance of you being into anything like... this," Hati spoke, gesturing to the two of them with his hand before continuing, "~outside of this simulation, but just so you know, I wouldn't call you an unpleasant little horror - unique? sure, why not? but I've had a mostly good time being here with you," the wolf finished, turning his head to the Nepleslian to offer her a warm smile as one ear flicked absentmindedly.
Haisely nodded, he understood which was good, it was bad enough that she didn't really like having company without scaring off the few people she could tolerate. "Yeah thats just the world rather than me, I come in here and get lost for days, weeks even, just enjoying everything you can do with so much freedom. I guess I should warn you not to be surprised if I don't respond to any messages for weeks at a time, I'm usually just in here." She replied, not many people had smiled at her without getting a scowl in return for some other action they'd committed, making Hati one of the lucky ones so far.
"It's lucky I don't message often then, but c'mon, give yourself some credit - I mean yeah it might be freedom... but it's what you do with that freedom that makes you kinda cool, I say kinda because I feel like if I compliment you too much I might wake up with claws in my chest," the wolf offered with a sigh, his raven brows furrowing a little as he observed the odd organism of a being that Haisley was.
"Also, if you ever need an extra set of hands in here, just hit me up - yeah?"
"You're not wrong, I'm not one for flattery, too much attention so its a good way of getting stabbed yes. Less chance of it in here though." She mused, throwing another wink to see if her hunch was correct about the last one. "I'll be sure to send for you if I need you to hold the vault open for me, I'm only a little girl after all and the doors are so heavy."
Being so much closer to him now and in adequate lighting she'd be able to see the tiniest bit of pink flush to his cheeks as Hati somewhat awkwardly turned away from the flutter of Haisley's eyelid, a small sigh that devolved into a chuckle escaping his chest as the wolf tried to play it off, "Well a big strong... whatever the hell I am like me can certainly do that for you, anything else you might need too, probably."
Haisely had a raised eyebrow of her own as he turned away, getting flustered over a wink was new though perhaps he wasn't quite used to her attitude inside her own world yet. Or no one else ever winked at him. "Sounds like a plan, I think it's about time we got out of here though or I'm gonna have to eat a cold burger. I know it seems like we've been in here for quite some time but, its complicated, basically because of the system I use this place runs on faster time than the real world, so its only been a couple minutes so far." Haisely said leaping up and landing in a crouch, "Just think about a big red 'end program' button or something to you that signifies returning to real world, should appear in front of you." She briefly explained before slapping her own instant off button and vanishing.
Hati sat up and watched her fade into the ether so suddenly with a small smirk, shaking his head as the wolf conjured up a big mental lever and pulled it - his consciousness being thrown back into his body was a much less graceful experience than it had been for him going in. The boy sat bolt-upright and ripped the thing from his forehead, blinking a few times and clearly out of it before quickly clawing for the bag their food had been delivered in, proceeding to... put his own burger back in, a few moments of retching and gagging as his guts were emptied into it.
Haisely sat on her chair, knees pulled up to her chest just like before as she watched him suffer from first time use of the brutal tech. Seemingly undisturbed she continued to eat her own burger, "You ok." The girl said, clearly more out of courtesy than concern as she turned back to her tablet, someone had turned the lights on while they were gone which was not something she had expected, the cameras would be able to tell her who. After a moment she saw some security guy move through and flick them on without even glancing inside the room they were in, at least he hadn't stared at them.
He spat once to get the taste of bile out of his maw, wiping lips against the back of his palm as Hati tied the bag off and turned back around to face her - fluffy ears drooping low to his head after the experience as a weak smile was offered, "Yeah... Yeah I'm good now, sorry," the wolf spoke before moving to dispose of the bag in a trashcan just outside the room, quickly returning to his seat with red eyes that traced up and down the Nepleslian.
Haisely watched him from her seat, not moving much until he returned, pulling out a small disk and holding it out to him. "This is your avatar, on a disk so you can use it in any virtual setting. I don't have spare headgear though." She said while collecting his discarded membrane and pocketing it once more. "People sell them, around the place."
"Cheers~" Hati mused as his crimson gaze shifted to the disk, holding it up for inspection and rolling it over a few times in his hand before moving to stow it in a pocket, "I'll see if I even need one, I have a geist so..." he continued, gesturing to the back of his neck before both hands rested in the boy's lap, thinking back to the request she had made as his fluffy tail rose up for Haisley to inspect.
"Still want to touch it?"
The girls eyes locked onto the tail as he spoke, reaching out slowly to run her fingers through it, enjoying the soft feeling of a real tail. Haisely shook her head afterwards though and lulled back her hand, "Geists and internal devices don't work, it'll fry your brain from the direct physical connection it had. Imagine that sickness only it goes through your neck and right into your spine and brain, its somewhat dangerous tech."
He'd visibly relaxed a little as her hand broke through the stiffer outer coat to the soft as sin fur beneath, a small sound of contentment under her touch and only wishing it lasted a little longer before he spoke, "That... sounds unpleasant yeah, I'll grab a helmet or something," he mused, glancing over at her setup once more before continuing, "So how does your thingy compare to something off a shelf?" the wolf asked, tail settling over his lap idly.
"Well, it's still technically off the shelf, the back shelf that is. It's basically just the crucial component from a helmet or other clunky device with a few extras tacked on, the direct mental link and body inhibitor." Haisely said, standing up on her chair with practiced ease and balance before reaching out to rub his ears.
"I don't want to sound rude~ do you want an upgrade?" The wolf asked with ears that had perked up in the presence of Haisley's hands, another small sound of contentment rumbling up his throat as it became clearer just how much animal there was in him - though Hati's eyes were fixed on the way she moved, graceful and purposeful, he'd almost liken it to his own stride when barefoot.
The girl cocked her head to one side. "How do you mean?"
"Well, I can get you something from a shelf closer to the front if you want?" he queried back, head likewise cocking to the side to mirror hers.
"As long as it's not some clunky helmet, and I can fit it in my pocket for on the go. Sure." She replied, giving the ears a scratch to see how he reacted.
"I'll see what they've got~" he responded before leaning a little further into her hand, eyes closing as the toes of one booted foot tapped against the floor rhythmically.
Haisely continued rubbing the ears for a few more moments, she did like the feel of them after all and if he was enjoying it then it was win win right? "Sounds good." Eventually she stopped however and hopped off her chair, grabbing her tablet and heading over to one of the server consoles. "I should be getting back to work now, and you have trouble to find."
Hati's eyes opened up again as he gave her a nod, massively dilated pupils settling back down to a normal size as the tall wolf stood up, "Right yeah, I'll let you get back to it then," Hati agreed with her, slinging the carbine over his chest and gripping the heavy-plated vest by the carrying handle with ease as he spoke again, "See you whenever I guess."
"Room 10." She said quickly, "Just, don't tell anyone else, used to have problems with people breaking through the door a while ago..."
"Room 74," he responded, a few slow nods before he reached down for the door and spoke once more, "Why would I tell anyone?" Hati softly smirked before making his leave, silently padding down the hallway as the fluffy tail retreated back into his shorts and the beanie was pulled over his ears once more.
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