[WIP] Bright Lights
The neon glow of city streets shimmered on the slick pavement of District 43. Ashe walked briskly through weaves of dark side-alleys as the rain drizzled on around her.
The faint adverts and slogans echoing her eyes and ears were frustrating, but she couldn't help feeling a familiarity and longing in the lights. As bright as they were, they shone with a glamorous beauty she would do anything to protect; this city was home after all.
‘Avarosa, pull up the signal Ekko detected in sector 5’.
A light blinked from the drone on her back lighting up the area before her with information gathered earlier that day, still following the map augmented into her vision, the odd signal once again ran through the database for possible matches. Nothing. ‘Something's not right here. That sector was cut off from the grid a long time ago, without power there you'll only find pluggers and abandoned buildings.’
Area scans had been inconclusive so it was up to her to investigate.
Standing alone on the shady street, Ashe flicked her light shades through various vision settings and took in the surroundings. The ruined buildings that once stood here bad been long abandoned after an incident largely ignored by the press, and due to a forever pending investigation by Central; had not been refactored for reconstruction.
The ever stalking darkness now enveloping the area would make any citizen leave out of a sense of unaccustomed fear, but Ashe was no stranger to the night's embrace, and many days of moving through its cover only strengthened the resolve she always carried in her.
‘Let’s shed some light on things.’
‘Searching…’ the drone responded as it hummed to life, smoothly gliding over broken screens and burnt furniture to illuminate small portions of the area, all the while running tests for Ozone and other possible irregularities.
The gentle sound of rain was only interrupted by the low cracks and shuffling of rubble but intent, Ashe continued the search for the anomaly she hoped might be a sign to PROJECT’s next move when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a small stuffed bird; the blue of its plush long blackened with dirt and its wings torn and sagging with the weight of the rain.
Ashe felt cold. A feeling she had long since thought gone chilled her chest and she found herself frantically moving to examine the toy closer, searching for another morsel of the feeling that had coldly touched her heart for the faintest of moments. Was this remembering?
Her mind was forcefully snapped back by the artifacted sound of a familiar jingle ringing in her ears; In her moment of confusion, she had not properly noted the figure that lay slumped in the corner of the room. It shuddered abruptly as it flickered to life with a green glow that flooded the room and highlighted the white frozen smile on its face.
‘To heal and prote-tect’
Replies
The plan is to have Program Camille fight Ashe, taunting her about her past, culminating in a fraction of a memory returning and empowering Ashe to defeat her opponent.