InFamous: The Unusual Conduits

by Blackdrag-rose

Empire: The Food Drop

The morning of the fourteenth day of the quarantine started out like any other, the group got together and portioned out what food they still had, while Trish was amazed by the amount Zeke had stored up after the Blast had happened, before they all went about their days. For Trish that meant she was either being called in to help some of the survivors throughout the Neon District, with the dwindling medical supplies she had, while Cole and the sisters moved to Zeke's roof to continue their training. That meant they were starting with the same thing they did every day, climbing up the side of Zeke's apartment building until all of them reached the top, before they moved onto honing their precision with their blasts and running around the area as they continued to practice the parkour techniques Cole tried to teach them. Adagio felt that doing all of this was exhausting work, and that was reflected on their faces when they finally finished their training for the day, but at the same time she and her sisters were more than happy to go through with it.

Zeke, of course, decided to remain at his apartment building for the most part and stayed up on the roof, meaning that if someone wanted to see him they either had to call him or they had to walk up the flights of stairs to reach him... or, if it was Cole or the sisters that wanted to talk, they would climb the exterior to see him.

The reason Zeke stayed on the roof was because he had found a box that had been left on the steps leading to the front door of the apartment building, one that contained three sets of clothing and three smaller backpacks, identical to Cole's backpack oddly enough, though Sonata was the first to jump for joy. She quickly replaced her old ruined clothing with a pair of light gray shorts and a purple shirt, leaving her shoes over her hooves while she stored her old attire in the bag that had her mark on it, or rather what she had picked for her 'Cutie Mark' back when they were entering CHS. Adagio and Aria found two more sets of clothing inside the box, complete with small bags baring their own marks, though oddly enough Aria discovered that the pair she had picked out looked the exact same as what she was already wearing, minus the holes and missing parts she had lost in the Blast, and she switched into the fresh pair without delay. Adagio did the same, while at the same time finding it to be extremely odd that the box happened to come to this very building, with clothing and bags to replace what they had lost, almost as if someone was looking out for them... and she could only assume that Discord was watching them, while making sure that they had some decent clothing at the same time.

She wasn't sure what Discord's game was, as she was sure that he was trying to have fun with their situation, but she said nothing about it as she and her sisters followed Cole up to the roof, where they could make sure that the battery stations were powered up. When the four of them arrived, however, they found Zeke lounging on the couch he had set up in front of the television, and he already had a comic open when they decided to arrive, though he did move the comic as he heard their arrival.

"I thought you were going to watch something on the television while we trained." Cole commented, as he noticed that Zeke hadn't even attempted to turn on the device yet, meaning that he must have seen something that told him this wasn't a good idea and simply waited until they arrived.

"Batteries are dead again... you mind putting on freak show?" Zeke asked, though at the same time he moved the comic out of his eyes so he could clearly look at them for a few moments, while he seemed to be thinking about what he had said, "You're going to need to charge all of them... the TV's a hog."

"Sure." Cole replied, though at the same time the sisters could tell that this was starting to get old for him, and it had only been six days since this routine started, before he sighed and turned away from Zeke as he headed for the first battery station his friend had set up, "Glad it's good for something."

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata watched as Cole moved towards the battery station that was near where Zeke was sitting and loosed a few bolts at the station, fully charging the batteries and providing one third of the power that was necessary for the television to operation. There wasn't much the sisters could do in this situation, not when Cole was the only one of them with electrical based powers, so they simply stood there and watched as their new friend, as Sonata insisted on calling him that, moved near the second battery station and powered it up. From there it was a simple matter for Cole to walk around the fence that was in his way and loosed a few more blasts at the final battery station, where the combined power of the three stations allowed the television to come on when Zeke pressed the button. One thing the girls didn't really like was that he sometimes referred to the device as 'boob-tube', revealing the other part of his nature that they were quick to ignore... and he never tried anything on them, not with their new powers and the fact that the first thing Sonata did was kick a guy between his legs.

With the task complete Cole turned towards the sisters, who knew exactly what was coming up next as Zeke started to turn the television to the channel he wanted to watch... though before anyone could move they heard the sounds of some engines and turned their heads towards the large statue that was off in the distance, where a large airplane, the type that made supply drops, flew overhead and eventually disappeared as it continued flying off into the distance.

"You guys see that?" Zeke asked, as if he thought that they were all idiots for missing it, causing Adagio to sigh as she resisted the urge to raise a palm to her face, "With how low it was flying, I thought it was going to crash into the Neon District or something."

It was in that moment that the person that Zeke called the 'TV Jacker' seized control of the television, and any other working televisions throughout the Neon District, and appeared before them, though Cole and the sisters knew him as the 'Voice of Survival', as he liked to call himself.

Just got word that the feds dropped some relief packages into Archer Square, the Voice of Survival said, revealing what the airplane was doing, though at the same time Cole, Zeke, and the sisters knew that people would be heading there soon enough, the liars at the corporate media tells us that we're gonna get our fair share, that more is coming, heh, that's easy for them to say! They're not the ones living in this hellhole! And truth is that we've been abandoned, and no one is coming to save us.

"Told you that they'd drop food." Cole said, referring to an earlier discussion he and Zeke had during one of the breaks he had taken from his training, especially since it regarded to the dwindling food supply that they had, while at the same time turning towards his friend for a few seconds.

"Man, you must be out of your mind." Zeke replied, though as he spoke he set aside his comic and stood up, telling the sisters that he might actually be thinking of heading out to take a look at what was dropped into Archer Square, "You think any of those pencil-necks gives a crap about us? This is a PR stunt."

"That isn't going to stop you from pigging out, though, is it?" Aria inquired, as she and her sisters had seen how Zeke ate in the days since they woke up and knew that he'd eat almost anything that was available, save for a few very specific things that he didn't like.

"Hell no it ain't!" Zeke declared, as he could already imagine what had been dropped into Archer Square and what they might be able to get their hands on, provided they managed to get anything from this, "Zeke's gotta eat."

"Then you can take the stairs," Cole said, though at the same time he grinned as he turned towards the opening that was near where Zeke's couch was located, where he knew that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata would follow after him, "the girls and I, on the other hand, will use the express elevator."

Zeke, understanding what Cole was talking about, mumbled something about the fact that Cole and the sisters got to have all the fun, which he was really annoyed about, and opened the nearby door so he could walk down the stairs that were behind it. A few moments later a tired Zeke emerged from the building and moved off into the area around the spot that his friends generally landed in, to which Cole jumped over the edge and let himself fall to the ground, where he landed without any sort of injuries and broken bones, another benefit of whatever had happened to him. Once he was on the ground he moved out of the way and looked up at the roof, where he and Zeke watched as the sisters jumped off the roof and landed around the entrance of the apartment building, also sustaining no injuries despite the height they had jumped from, while at the same time Sonata smiled as Adagio and Aria let a small smirk appear on their faces.

"Those were some awesome jumps," Zeke commented, still appearing to be a little tired from his run down the stairs, while at the same time he pushed that to the side as he focused on the task at hand, "Man, I really wish I could do something like that... because running down all those stairs sucks donkey balls. Now, before we head over to Archer, I need to pick up a new six shooter."

"Here we go..." Cole said, remembering what happened the last time he held a gun, which wasn't a great experience now that he had electric powers, though at the same time he and the sisters followed after Zeke as he started moving towards the location his new weapon was in.

"Nah, that was bad-ass." Zeke stated, as he was the only one that found what had happened to be funny, because despite the fact that they hadn't been involved with the majority of the situation Adagio, Aria, and Sonata didn't find what had happened to be very funny at all, "The second you touched it, the electricity in your hands cooks of the gun powder and the whole thing goes KA-BAM! The looks on all your faces was priceless."

"It almost blew off Cole's hand at the same time," Sonata said, as she didn't like the fact that Zeke thought this was remotely funny, especially since it was his best friend that had nearby been hurt by the event.

"Which is why Cole won't be touching the new one." Zeke replied, revealing that he didn't want this one trashed as well, though at the same time there was something else that he wanted to tell them, "I traded this guy one of my home-made batteries for it."

"As in one of the ones that explode when you use them?" Adagio inquired, as she couldn't believe that Zeke would willingly give someone one of those, even if he desperately wanted the six shooter that was replacing the old one, and knew that he had put someone's life in danger, even if she didn't know who that someone was.

"Hell, he doesn't know that." Zeke stated, though at the same time they crossed the street and continued to follow the sidewalk, where Cole and the sisters followed after Zeke, as he was the only one that knew where the weapon was, "C'mon, he told me he was going to leave the gun in a parking lot a few blocks from here."

As Adagio and her sisters thought about what Zeke had done, as they had never done anything like that when they were trying to survive in the seemingly magicless world that Starswirl had sent them to, Zeke started talking about what he missed since the Blast had happened. Those included having a nice big slice of pizza, that was dripping with grease and pepperoni, while also having a big fat stack of bills in his wallet, though the sisters knew that he was picking out his favorite parts of what life had been like before the Blast. Cole, on the other hand, said that he'd settle for some hot water, which the sisters agreed with, before Zeke started talking about a time that they messed with a bike cop, where he apparently pissed all over the guy before he and Cole fled the scene. The sisters weren't sure that this was really the best thing to be talking about, especially given the current circumstances of the Neon District, but they decided to let the duo talk, since they didn't have anything to share that was like what the pair had done.

There were a few things that the sisters noticed as they followed after Cole and Zeke, as there were Reaper signs on some of of the windows, there were bags of trash everywhere, people were clearly scared of what was going to happen to them, and there were several injured people resting along the path they were following... and there was nothing the three of them could do, at least not yet.

They turned around a few more corners and ran through an alley before they found the area they were searching for, a parking lot that had a few delivery trucks, or more accurately the rectangle containers that they carried around, resting in their way as they stopped in front of four identical cars. Zeke started to moan about how the man he traded the battery to had told him that the gun would be hidden under a car, and that his assumption was that there would have only been one car upon arrival, before exclaiming that they would never find the weapon. Cole, on the other hand, had a solution to his friend's problem, as he gathered his power for a moment and loosed what the sisters guessed was a shockwave, where they watched as the circular wave moved the cars he aimed at and, if he aimed it right, he could even lift them a little bit into the air before they came back to the ground. Cole was able to use this new ability for a few seconds before he found the car that the gun was under, though while Zeke happily claimed his weapon Cole walked over to the nearby power source and drained it of it's power, restoring his own and making him ready to continue.

With the weapon claimed, and Zeke once more interested in the powers that Cole and the sisters possessed, the group started to depart from the parking lot, though as they did so Cole's phone rang and he immediately tapped the button to answer it, especially since he knew who it was without looking.

"Cole, you there?" Trish asked, to which the group paused for a moment, because for Cole this was important, especially after who his girlfriend had lost when the Blast happened.

"Hey babe." Cole said, letting Trish know he was there, while at the same time being pleased to see that all of his friends were being silent at the moment, despite the fact that they were all eager to get to Archer Square.

"You hear they dropped some food into Archer Square?" Trish inquired, which meant that the Voice of Survival must have accessed one of the televisions near where she was located, though it was kind of hard to miss the plane flying over the Neon District earlier.

"Yeah, we did." Cole replied, though as he said that he knew that Trish was going to worry about all of them, regardless of what he decided to tell her, so he decided on letting her know exactly what they were doing, "All five of us are heading over there right now."

"How are you feeling?" Trish asked, as while she worried about him she was slightly interested in the powers that he had developed since the Blast, and that included the abilities that the sisters might have unlocked as well, despite the fact that she preferred to ask Adagio, Aria, and Sonata that question in person.

"All right, I guess." Cole answered, though at the same time he, Zeke, and the sisters moved out of the parking lot, as they were losing time by standing around in one place, "These powers are all over the place. Used to be that I could barely power a light bulb, now I'm jumping off of buildings and frying the junk on Zeke's roof."

"You jumped off a building?!" Trish exclaimed, as she couldn't believe that Cole had done something like that, even if he hadn't been injured in the slightest by the action, before she said something else, "What were you thinking? And please don't tell me you managed to convince Adagio and her sisters to do the same thing."

"Relax Trish, we're fine." Cole said, deciding that it was best not to say that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata had jumped off the top of Zeke's apartment building as well, despite the fact that they were uninjured as well.

"Just take it easy." Trish replied, though it was at this point that the sisters knew she was talking to Cole, and only to Cole, so they paid attention to the path they were following while Cole ran behind them and finished things up, "After what happened to Amy, I couldn't..."

"Yeah, I know." Cole said, as he knew how much Trish was hurting after losing her sister, and that he knew that Trish would be shattered if anything happened to him, which was why he wasn't planning on letting anything happen to him, Zeke, or even the sisters that we with them.

"I'll see you guys at Archer Square," Trish stated, indicating that the call was almost over, which was good news since their group was getting close to their destination as well, but Cole knew there was something else Trish wanted to say before the call was cut off, "I love you."

As Cole said that he loved Trish as well, and hung up after she did, the group turned a corner and came face to face with the large statue of a man that they had seen the airplane fly over earlier, to which they carefully approached Archer Square and looked around for the supply boxes that were supposedly dropped into the area. As the five of them followed the crowd of people towards the center of the area Zeke looked up and spotted the supplies, which were currently hanging on part of the statue and appeared to be caught. Since none of the civilians around them appeared to be climbers, based solely on what they were seeing at the moment, Cole sighed as he approached the base of the statue and jumped up so he could grab the light in front of him. From there he started to ascend the statue, carefully making his way along the pipe that would take him closer to the supplies, which made him jump over a small gap before he could approach the cable that connected the supplies to the parachute it was attached to... where Cole lifted his hand and blasted the clearly rusted chain, allowing the container of supplies to drop down to the ground, while at the same time the civilians moved out of the way before they were hit.

Any happiness he felt when the food fell towards the ground was crushed as he heard some gunfire nearby and turned towards the source, as the red hooded menace known as the Reapers had finally entered the scene, and they were already firing at the civilians that were near them or close to their immediate area... and Cole, seeing it happen from his vantage point, growled as he knew what he had to do; he jumped off the part of the statue he was on and landed near his friends.

"Let's do this." Cole said, where he held his arm out and loosed a bolt through the air, where it struck one of the Reapers that were coming their way in the chest and knocked it to the floor, while at the same time Zeke and the sisters spread out and fired at will.

The civilians ran for cover as Cole, Adagio, Aria, Sonata, and Zeke opened fire on the Reapers that were coming for the supplies, though as they did so the five of them spread out so they could make sure they took out all of the enemies that were coming their way and no miss any of them. Adagio used some of the support structures around the area as cover as she studied how many enemies were in the area, though when they focused on someone else she emerged from her hiding spot and threw a few ki blasts at her intended targets. Aria had a much different approach, as she actually charged at her chosen targets and punched them when she got close, preferring to use the ki blasts when her foes were dazed so she was sure she was knocking them out, before she moved onto the next Reaper that turned on her. Sonata, on the other hand, avoided the gunfire that was aimed in her direction and launched a few attacks in return, where the Reapers moaned in pain as her attacks knocked them out as well.

Sure enough after the first group of Reapers were taken out two more groups charged into the battlefield, intending to take out the defenders and claim the food that had been dropped into the area, but at the same time none of the sisters were having that, and Cole agreed with them. As these groups came together the four of them assisted each other in taking their enemies out, as Adagio and Cole stood behind the support pillars for a moment, to make sure they avoided the bullets, and when the Reapers stopped they stepped out of their hiding area and blasted their targets to the ground before they moved forward. Aria and Sonata, however, had a different tactic, as sometimes Aria would be a distraction and would make sure the Reapers focused on her, allowing Sonata to take them out, and other times Sonata would be the distraction that allowed Aria to do the same. Together the four of them seemed to be more than a match for the Reapers that were coming towards Archer Square, though before long it was clear that this might be all the Reapers were sending out at the moment... and the rest of their gang would be annoyed when they realized that they weren't taking the supplies that had been dropped into the area.

Zeke watched all of this happen, and took in everything that the sisters could do with their limited skills while also factoring in what Cole was able to do with his electricity as he knocked out two Reapers by shooting the puddle they were both touching, while also firing a few bullets at the foes that came his way... before the small group of Reapers they had been fighting had been routed, much to his joy as the others returned to him. At the same time he noticed that the civilians, who had been scared off by the Reapers and had hidden where they might be safe, were now poking their heads out to see what was going on, and he knew what was coming if they didn't act fast.

"There's a lot of food here." Aria commented, looking over the number of containers that had littered the ground after Cole knocked the supply drop loose, while at the same time the others nodded their heads in agreement, "So what do we do with all of it? Do we share with the other civilians, or do we..."

"We share." Sonata replied, where Adagio and Aria noticed that her aura took on a very light blue coloration for a few seconds before it disappeared, though whatever that meant they had no idea, before Sonata turned towards the first group of civilians that were coming over and helped them take some of the supplies.

Adagio and Aria stared at each other for a moment, wondering what they should do, before they decided that they might as well do the same thing and helped their sister out, though while the two of them did that they both noticed the faint change in their auras as well. A few seconds later Cole joined them and helped open the containers so the civilians could get to the food a lot faster, especially since a few appeared to be a tad bit damaged by the drop, but they were able to make sure the people had food so they could survive a few more days. Zeke, of course, commented on how one of the items happened to be canned prunes and how he disliked them, but he moved to the side as Trish walked up to where Cole and the sisters were standing.

"I'm so glad you guys got the food down and protected it from the Reapers!" Trish said, indicating that she was happy with their decision to help the civilians that she was trying to help, while at the same time smiling at some of them as they carried off some of the food that had been dropped, "These people were starting to starve."

"We're just doing what we can." Cole replied, though at the same time he smiled as he glanced over at Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, as despite the fact that two of them seemed reluctant to distribute the food at first they eventually joined in and aided their sister, "Someone had to help them."

It was at that point that Sonata noticed something of interest, as the Voice of Survival had hacked into more of the video screens that were in the city and had a new message to play for them, though as she focused on it so did Adagio, Aria, Cole, Zeke, and Trish. As the video played the group discovered that the speaker had a few images of Cole the day the Blast happened, holding a familiar package that the sisters had seen him looking at when they first arrived in this world, one that the Voice of Survival was quick to label as the reason behind why the city was in the shape that it was in. He also started to label Cole, of all people, as the terrorist that was responsible for the Blast, the disease that came after it, the intense property damage, and all of the people that had been killed when the tragic event happened. The sisters were shocked by what they were seeing, as Cole was a good person and would never willingly deliver or set off a bomb, but at the same time they noticed two things; the first being that people were starting to look at him weird... and the second was Trish, who had lost her sister in the Blast, turned away from Cole and walked away without saying a single word.

The sisters knew that whatever bond had been in place between Cole and Trish had been severed by one video, and one man as it were, and it wasn't likely ever going to come back... though before a riot could happen Cole and Zeke make quick plans to meet at the Stampton Bridge, before heading in opposite directions. The sisters, not knowing what to do in this situation, followed after Cole as he departed from Archer Square, all so the heat would die down so they could enact whatever plan he and Zeke were going to put together next.

Comments

[Zintenka]

This is great, keep the chapters comin'!