Webs and Waves

Arachnea's eyebrow went up in confusion when she mentioned being squishy, though, looking back at the hug they shared, she was indeed, softer than a normal human, otherwise she would've shattered her bones in her embrace.

She was going to comment about it, but she was soon blasted with questions, causing her to shrink back, unsure of how to answer it all at once.


Ava's concern about her wound gave her time to think.

She waved her hand lightly, dismissing any damage done to her.


"I-I've had worse. See?" She brushed off some of the blood away from the wound, and indeed, it was now a scar, not particularly pretty yet, but it was sealed at the very least, if looked at from close enough, one could see very, very small patches appearing on top of the wound, they were her cells, fixing her broken flesh with little trouble, thanks to the quick snack she had before the encounter with the sniper.

"I can tell you about the tracker while we walk..." She did exactly that, following the octopus closely. Talking only once they had a decent pace.


"The more... Valuable the more trackers we get. The enhaced, get one that isn't inside their body. Clones get one or two inserted. The ones like me, we get three... Sometimes four."

She tried to think of how to explain the places in which they were usually located, though it wasn't exactly easy to remember given she'd lost a couple now, both of which had not been recent.

"I told you of the first one, and how I lost it... There's another in the mouth, a tooth, I got rid of it- There was another, on my hip, I got it out too. But the last one.. I-I am not sure where it is, the papers didn't mention it, they just said they put it in me." She paused. She wasn't even sure of how to explain the last asnwer to Ava.


"The trackers don't work close to me... Many things don't. They don't show where I am exactly- It's luck, probably."
 
"That explains a lot." Ava had seen other experiments escape sure but the success rate and time before someone caught up was entirely different there then other cases. It also explained why her comms device had started to fumble during their encounter, now to when she thought about it. The device was in here the sound a soft static, she'd been able to ignore it with everything else going on. She figured she would keep the device though just in case it did eventually pick up something.

At some point she would be registered as on the run, and they'd be after her just as much as any other. Any heads up possible she figured should be held onto. Though how helpful that would be with current company might be up for debate. A idea she figured a littoral double edged sword.

The small venture took them to a run down car. Sale numbers had been written on the window, some od them fading from the rain trying wash a a ay the paint. "Lucky to heal so fast. If we stick together, should know I probably won't. Tossing me into a tub of water or something though might help." The octopus kneels by the car and moves a strand of hair to the lock. The strands are pushed in and then the hair becomes a tentacle. The appendage spreads open the lock mechanism allowing entrance into the vehicle. A brief moment taken to open the door for the other woman. Another moment to toss the duffel bag into the back seat.

"You ever driven before? They taught me how a little and how to hotwire some. I'm no expert though." Some might see though the conversation though. Ava was looking for tasks to do and small conversation starters. Things to preoccupy her mind so as to not get lost in everything else going on. The reality of what she was, that was destructive to linger on right now. Or at least her mind went to thinking so because lingering on the revelations hurt far to much.
 
Arachnea placed her hands behind her back, watching Ava work away at the lock on the vehicle.

"I'll remember... Water plus Octavia equals good." She said, as if simpliying the idea would help her remember it easier, which would be true for most people, however, Arachnea already had a ridiculously good memory without having to exercise her mind in any particular way.

The spider in fact, did not see the true meaning of the conversation, and was surprised that the cephalopod was asking her about cars, she found it funny even, catching herself smilling at the question, showing a hint of her abnormally large canine teeth.

Arachnea may have had a good memory, but, to put it plainly, she was a bit... Dense, oblivious- Stupid, just a tiny bit, at least when it came to social interactions. Not that anyone could blame her, living as a lab-rat for so many years, getting disposed off and living in isolation may turn anyone clueless in terms of how relationships or conversations worked.


"I can't drive cars- If we find a bike I could try and ride it... With training wheels."


Ara jumped into the seat eagerly, looking around as if it was the most exciting thing she'd done in years... It was. She wasn't completely calm, nor had she forgotten of their danger, but just like Octavia, she didn't want to think of it, she just wanted to go away, and her chance was right there, making her feel the slightest sense of comfort.


She was already starting to warm up a bit to the other woman, her stutter was starting to fade little by little, of course they didn't know much of each other beyond what they'd spoken of and the files Ava had read on her, but she didn't really mind, who else was she supposed to trust?

"This is nice..." She muttered, looking around the compartments of the car, particularly interested in the glove box that contained a lot of dust, a few loose coins, and a lone spider that observed her without moving.
 
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"Really? What did they have planned for you then. If don't mind me asking." The remark of water was cute, the joke of training wheels or statement had a charm to it. The octopus found herself more intrigued though by the information presented.

Way she saw it Ara was the superior creature but seemed largely less informed of things. It tracked in a way keep the greater threat less informed and less diverse in skills. It would help Biodime have control. It made her wonder what the plan and purpose then was. They had used Ava for assassinations and breaking into places. She served the business as an expendable asset. It was so insulting to her self worth she thought herself garbage now, but it was a job. If Ara didn't go outside then her purpose was inside, but then to what end.

Eyes shifted to the glove box as it was opened. Some change, that wasn't going to be of much help. Couldn't be to mad car trying to be sold wasn't going to have to many provisions inside it. Was still discouraging however, other missions Ava was able to get s lot of information from such things. Then along came a spider, which locked eyes with Ara.

"Freind of yours? They know anything?" Granted Octavia didn't think she remembered spider communication as an ability had. She also doubted a car spider had useful Intel even if it did. Such questions though and banter helped distract the mind. Her grip on the wheel was tight it helped fight off them trembling. Everytime Ava blinked she saw her doctors dead before her, reminding her of shortcomings of everything she was. A check to the mirrors some part of her afraid the agency would be on them before they could plan or prepare. So she asked if the spider relative had a ything to say.
 
Arachnea rose an eyebrow. Planned with her? Well that was a good question, but she didn't really know how to answer it.


"I am... Not quite sure. They said my blood was valuable. I'm not sure if they meant it literally or metaphobicly.... Meta fourlyrically, uh- Not, for real." She corrected herself, struggling to find the word, her attempt at sounding knowledgeable failing miserably.


There were hundreds of documents, all from different test subjects, she remembered many of those before being able to pull anything about her, in the back of her mind, she was even sure she read something about an octopus, but she couldn't quite remember all the details, it had been a quick read behind the backs of her researchers.


The information about herself was harder to come by, only few had access to the important files, which were strictly handled digitally, in a hardrive only a group of ten or fifteen people at the facility were allowed to use, "The Circle", that was the name engraved into the drive. The most important and influential, the people who knew it all and made sure it all ran according to their plans.

She met some of them, though she didn't mention it because she assumed Ava had surely met them at some point, they always came to check on promising experiments, the ones that would be allowed to go out, or the most dangerous ones.


The memory she had of those folk were not pleasant, in the slightest, the tests were not for her mental skills, they were all physical, and often... Painful.

Electric therapy, weather conditions, stamina and strength, all part of the daily tasks, but whenever the "owners" came by, the researchers made sure to make the tests far harder for them all. Thinking of them made her blood boil, but she tried not to show it too much- She was taken out of her train of thought by Ava's next question.

Ara was a bit ashamed to admit she in fact, could not speak to spiders.


"Well, I can't- Really understand what they say. I think they try to talk to me sometimes, but I've never really heard anything much." She gently offered a finger for the arachcnid to climb on, which it gladly did, roaming her hand slowly. "He seems okay though..."

She smiled at the spider, as if it was a cat, purring, despite it being slightly bigger than a bottlecap.

Arachcnea soon realized to Ava, the spider just looked like any other spider and she couldn't recognize what made it seem calm, so she offered a closer look, keeping the curious spider in her palm.


"You can tell he's comfortable because he isn't probing the air around with his legs, and here you can see he is using his little front legs to clean himself. Usually they only do that when they haven't been bothered in a long time, so that means there has been not bad folk around him, that means we are likely okay too- Oh, and you can tell he's a boy because they don't grow as much as girls, they stay small and have thin legs like him."

Ara continued her little spider rant, spilling her thoughts without thinking too much, speaking to someone who made questions was much diffrent than talking to her spider companions, which only seemed to stare at her for hours on end, not that she didn't like them, but she prefered to have someone who could talk back.
 
"Metaphorically. I wasn't as good for studying, plus side learned a little more so they had a use for me. Downside was because they had little use for me." The octopus remarked she had been amused by the struggle found it cute. If maybe sad, how much any subject knew depended on value they had in areas. It was also insulting in a way, she saw the other abominations as her superiors it felt wrong to have anything they didn't. She wasn't the highest in self worth and this night only made her think herself deserving of even less. She concluded her value was high enough to meet the circle and be of value to them. Limit what Ara knew only making Ava suspect so more the limits seemed to personal. This mission had been to high value.

Eyes admired the spider for a bit just taking in the rambling. Anything to not dwell on her own demons. She wasn't fond of spiders necessarily thought them creepy but it was always more do to the surprise of stumbling onto one. Seeing one simply hanging out helped see it for what it was. The mannerisms proved honestly kind of cute. "If it makes you feel better it's not like I talk to fish or anything. They tried once to make me."

Paranoid eyes looked to the windows as if expecting to see someone following them. There wasnt though so she opened up. "Only met the Circle once, as a kid. Just one person came for the testing. I can still remember the disgust she had looking a t me. A guard hit me with electricity enough to trigger tentacles. I lashed out only to see a smile and then disapointment. Way she looked at me the knock back to the guard was expected but didnt live up to her hope. Way she looked at me, I felt ordered to do more...he died she shook her head. The lab floor gave way to drop me and the body into a pool of water. Guard was food. The shark seemed to recognize me as not worth a snack but nothing else. It ignored me." Her eyes looked to the clouds above briefly wasn't a pleasant memory.

"Circle Lady left, guards beat me for killing their coworker. There was no further testing just punishment and broken bones for not being worth the Circles time."
 
Arachnea nodded gratefully at her explanation on how to pronounce the word correctly.

She frowned a bit, the re-telling of her new companion's story was... Almost like living it again, it brought her a pang of pain in some ways, perjaps the old scars that still lingered in her tissue, kept the memories fresh as well.


She gently placed the spider onto the dashboard, which only then began crawling around to find its way back to the glove box,

The spider girl put all her focus on Octavia, her eight eyes shifting to set their gaze on her, and the area that surrounded her closely, taking in her discomfort, attempting to show empathy the best she could.


"One must've kept up with your progress. They don't let out the ones they don't consider good enough for the job..." Arachnea sunk into her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest as she took deep breath.

"They did horrible things to us. Some of you had it worse- You didn't deserve that... I know, we are monsters but, why was harming us the only way of making us obey? Humans are... So cruel..."

She closed her eyes for a moment, were Biodime the only bad people out there? No, she'd seen enough of the outside world in her time running away, she knew many, many bad people still lived out there, humans didn't only hurt ambominations, they hurt nature, animals... Each other, it was a scary thought.

She shook the thought off her mind, realizing it wasn't something productive to keep her mind on, maybe not every human was terrible, just like not every abomination was just a victim, she'd seen things, bad things, things that they kept in the lower levels, not more valuable than her necessarily, but still cocnsidered dangerous enough to be contained in high security, in fear that those things would affect the future plans of the company.

Ara forced a soft smile onto her lips, trying to reassure Ava despite their dire situation.


"It's okay though- They, tried to get rid of us... But we are together now, right? It's better- Better than what I thought would happen at least. Much better. We can take care of each other now, no one will hurt us again."
 
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"Progress deemed expendable." She appreciated the gesture it did help. It felt almost warm to have such company for a change. Something infectious about the atmosphere. She didn't get to know the comforts of things like friends really. They had her sometimes play a part that seemed even closer than this with a target. Those were hollow though. She never cared about the target just got close enough to see to the job. This though was real. And while the comfort was inviting it also came with a obscure caveat. Everything about her life now, and this scenario was alien.

She was silent for a time, focused on driving and perhaps a drift in thought. "I don't know where we go. I know I don't want to see you hurt but I'm so used to having just a part." For a mission she had at times played a friend, a coworker, a lover, but a lways a hunter. And her missions were often distant from any such role even besides the last. Just attend to the death or capture of somebody else.

"Having said that. I also don't want to leave are kind to endure like us. We should be free. Understand if just want to run. I'll help. I want to also go back though. Strangle the life from those chairmen. Drag them so far under the depths start to crush them..." Her disposition seemed bright at first willing to do anything to help Ara. Then it turned, a pivot that was impossibly cold in the delivery it provided.

The house was coming into view. An old cabin, a wooden thing that looked over the beach front. It's wood from even here could be seen as quite weathered from time and lack of use. The moon and tide reflecting on a dirty glass wall that faced towards the lapping tides. It was from there present point on the road impossible to know the inside. Outside though it was empty besides a electronic gate around it, the.car eventually slowing as they got close.
 
Ara was a bit, surprised at the change in demeanor, but, she couldn't deny it, sometimes she felt that way too.


"I don't... Feel too comfortable going back. But I trust you. If going back at some point means that we won't need to run away. I-I guess I wouldn't say no. "


Despite the fear, she kept her smile, why worry? She was not alone now, and her company was... Pleasant. She felt as if she could do anything for her, to the point of contemplating murder if it ever came down to it. What was she thinking?

Revenge, it was tempting, hell, even her own body was craving it at times, and she couldn't hide it, she had already acted upon it not too long ag. She bit her lip lightly, trying not to dwell on that too much, but it lingered still. She wouldn't allow anything to happen to Ava, even if to protect her she had to fight her own beliefs.


As their shelter came into view, she sat properly. A hand went up to her forehead, gently brushing away some strands of her bangs and out of her field of view, finally getting a good look at the structure, it looked like a good place to stay in- Safe at least.


"How long did you say we can stay here? I wouldn't mind- If we didn't leave for a while."


-

Of course, the news traveled quickly, the whole team annihilated, two abominations left without a trace, it only made the Circle rise with anger, specially since their prized, golden child had been finally found, only to dissapear again.


"Motherfucker! That, god damned clone did this, you knew she was unstable, why did you send her out for something this delicate?" A woman yelled, slamming her palm against the table in front of her.

"How was I to know? She is part of a kill team, was I suposed to know she would run away at the first contact with the bitch of a spider?" The man who was getting yelled at tried to defend himself, without much success.

"SILENCE, both of you... We are all at fault, do not forget, we allowed her creation despite it being a failure the first time-" Said another. "We will speak with the others about this, DO NOT, let it be known to the rest of the company, remember Salem118's files are not public..."
 
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