//------------------------------//
// CO0: Relocation 
// Story: Rez: Eqstr[Tera] 
// by NiGHTcapD 
//------------------------------//

A few days ago...



In a darkened alleyway, a small form twitched. A low groan rumbled out, as the figure stirred from its 'slumber'. "Gah… Why’s it always gotta hurt…" Nikki blinked slowly as her mind slowly cleared. She could sense her other selves, each in their own realm, riding different iterations of the timeline she found herself in. "Right… so… where am I?" She hopped to her feet, making sure her wings were fully hidden beneath her clothes. Fishing into a pocket, she brought out a tiny device that looked suspiciously like a cell phone, if such things normally had a case darker than Pitch himself, and no actual buttons marring the perfectly smooth surface. The device’s face lit up, though all that was revealed was a blank white screen. Nikki huffed at the phone and jammed it back in her pocket, turning her gaze to the street ahead. A single earbud snaked its way up to her ear, patching her into the collective consciousness of her split selves. After a few moments of mindless babble, it settled into a quiet hum of background thoughts. Still annoying, but less deafening.

Nikki strode forward, reaching the end of the alleyway momentarily. Her wings twitched as a random pedestrian slipped and fell in front of her, summoning a small gust of wind to push her away from the man. After a quick once-over, she Stepped down the street, skipping the space inbetween and avoiding the numerous passerby. A loud crack of thunder drew her gaze to the rough storm above her, reminding her to let the elements interact with her again. Natural wind instantly buffeted against her, along with a rapid soaking from the less-than-clean rainwater. "It’s the same in all these tech-worlds. Smoke and ash as far as the eye can see, choking the sky and poisoning the land."

She took a deep breath, catching exhaust, garbage fumes and other such city scents before she let out a happy sigh. "Home, sweet home at last." She continued down the street, smiling a strangely peaceful smile. After a block, she felt one of her multitude fade, apparently because of the man by the alleyway. "Even here? Though, I didn’t see what he did… whatever. Mortal forms suck." She brought the phone out once more, tapping at the screen a few times. A menu filled with shifting text opened, which she proceeded to tap at as well. Eventually a radar-like screen opened up, and a dozen tiny dots flickered in and out of view, before it settled into a top-down view of the street she was on. Colorful dots drifted around the outer edge, each labeled with a different symbol. She tapped along the border, shutting off all but three yellow dots. "Okay. Since my magic has apparently been almost entirely forced into this stupid thing, I'll just have to hope that this is actually my scanner, and not some sort of wacky GPS."

Another form faded as a car shot by her, making Nikki shudder as the pain flashed through her body. "And now I remember why I hate cars." A dragon-like roar drew her gaze upward, where a flicker of metal passed through the clouds, leaving a swirling wake as it passed higher out of view. A quick glance showed that none of the citizens appeared to care.

She went back to wandering down the street, nearly oblivious to her surroundings as she began to conference with her other selves.




Now...




A faint breath on the wind of the city, the city I don’t often venture into myself. Why that specific sound spoke to me above the noise, I have no idea. But it was an interesting sound for certain, so I may want to keep it in mind.
I was encouraged to get some fresh air, so I decided to take a walk before the show. By “show”, I mean music night at a local bar...consider it karaoke for instruments. Almost literally, in fact; pieces unknown to any given player can be given as sheet or on a karaoke-inspired screen (reading ahead vs. reacting à la Rock Band), anyone playing or not can request songs, and of course, singing is an option.
Tonight there’s going to be at least one player of every instrument that really matters, including a rock-and-classical violinist, drummer (optional customizable electronic drumpads brought, as the bar supplies normal drums), synth-pad player, multiple guitarists, jazz saxophonist...and, of course, me. With my keyboard.
Why all the fuss tonight, as opposed to any other night? It’s an annual thing, to show off and celebrate music, a local holiday of sorts. I haven’t missed this once since I started playing here, and I don’t intend to start now. The annoying program (you know the one) almost messed with my schedule, but I managed to sideline the problem for the day, even if I’ll pay for it later. Simply “attaching” a tracer module to the ghost program was enough to allow myself some peace of mind on the matter. Position updates delivered to my phone don’t hurt either.
So, with everything in place, all I’m doing is burning time, though there isn’t really that much left. I’ll be back before too long.