>>ORIGINS - Alex Pike!

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Thanks dkender!

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(Just in case you're watching for this to update-- it's updated! )

[DKender]

It had been one of those days. Usually, 6 AM weight training with the team and a steamy plate of French toast piled with strawberry jam (because fruit was healthier than syrup) woke Alex up for his morning classes. But by 10 AM, he was slipping in and out of consciousness as the professor discussed Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, pilgrimages, Old English, and students who'd fail the exam if they didn't wake up immediately and take notes ... OH SHIT.

Alex managed to stay awake until the class ended, but he felt awful. Exhausted. Like the living dead.

This was all Emiliano's fault. That guy had been tossing and turning in their shared dorm until three AM. Emiliano was usually the perfect roommate: quiet, thoughtful, and the kind of guy who shared his shampoo when Alex ran out. There had to be something wrong - a personal issue, maybe. Girl trouble? Could be. Alex decided to ask him later. But first, he needed to go shopping. Emiliano's birthday was just a few days away, and the poor guy could use a really thoughtful gift. Alex just wished he knew what a really thoughtful gift would be.

By late afternoon, wearing comfortable jeans and that green polo shirt that his grandma bought him, Alex was jogging to the mall. He'd been there a few times before. In between classes and baseball, he didn't have much time to explore the city, but Alex knew for a fact that this mall contained more shops than some small towns, so it had to have SOMETHING for his friend's twentieth birthday. The big 2-0.

Alex wondered what he'd do for his own twentieth birthday. It was just a few months away. Maybe his parents would finally get him a car. Something old, a fixer-uper. As he jogged, Alex imagined nursing a 70's Camaro back to health. He'd paint it red. Red like a cherry.

He arrived at the mall and went straight to work. After what seemed like an eternity of scouring shops for something Emiliano would like, the mall was starting to clear out, and the sky was darkening. Alex started to feel pressure to just pick something already. Emiliano's birthday was coming, and it was so hard to choose something for him. Well, hard to choose presents for anyone, really. It was an off season and most of the stores seemed to be in flux from still trying to hawk the last dregs of the Christmas season that they could possibly get away with, but hadn't quite gotten their new spring displays up. Except for Easter stuff, if Emiliano wanted socks with carrots on them, he was in luck.

He'd come all the way here, he might as well not return empty handed. He scoured through the gift shops again, wondering what could work, what would be masculine enough, not embarrassing or something that he'd already have... It was so much easier to shop for girls. Girls swooned over the knickknacks he picked up during visits to Grandma and Gramps on the Mescalero Reservation - little beaded bracelets, silver rings, cutesy leather medicine bags filled with polished stones. But Emiliano, well, he wasn't exactly charmed by Alex's dimestore exoticism. There used to be a candy shop with lots of weird things in it on the third floor, but he found it replaced by a rather expensive and effete chocolate shop. Dammit.

The smell of baking cookies was a bit overwhelming and distracting. He really did earn a damn cookie at least. Maybe if he sat around for a bit, pondering, the perfect gift would occur to him in a vision. At least, he'd get to eat a cookie.

Cookie in hand, he sat at a plastic table, feeling a bit strange. The food court was nearly empty except for a couple of students typing on laptops, using the free wi-fi until they got kicked out and sent to the next hotspot. How could someone work somewhere so noisy? He realized that it hadn't been noisy until just a moment ago.

The sound of traffic seemed a bit excessive, and even the students lifted their heads at the sound of squealing brakes and a metal crunch. Yikes, well that's life in the big city.

But it didn't stop, more cars, more brakes and the screams filtered all the way up to the third floor. He stood, stuffing the last of the cookie in his mouth, and looked out the big windows with the students. Outside it was suddenly utter mayhem. What the hell had he missed? His phone rang-Mom. Before he could answer, 'no signal.' The students next to him were also staring, dumbfounded, at their phones. Then the people began running upstairs, panicked and sweaty. What were they running from? The area of the food court was relatively safe and quiet, a large open area with many tables and chairs. He could look over the railing to the chaos below, so many people! The mall had nearly been empty, they must have all run inside for protection. One of the students desperately scrolled through something on her laptop.

"Oh! No signal..." she murmured. "I only got the title to load..."

The male student looked over her shoulder, and Alex too could see the headline on CNN.

"GLOBAL PANIC -- MULTIPLE DISASTERS STRIKE WORLD SIMULTANEOUSLY"

Most of a picture had loaded, it looked like the New York skyline at night, hardly visible but by moonlight, the power was completely out. The computer's clock up in the corner read 7:15.

Alex had to figure out what the hell was going on. Terrorists? A prank? Were they filming a movie? Was he going to be an extra on the next Ironman, or something? If those car accidents were real, though - if the people in them weren’t stuntmen - he had to help. He touched the silver crucifix hanging around his neck. Then, in a voice that he hoped carried over the din, Alex shouted, "Is anybody hurt?"

[DKender]

Alex's Inventory: He is wearing a hunt green Lacoste polo shirt (the kind with the little crocodile logos stitched to the front) and jeans, with new black Nike running shoes. The crucifix around his neck is two inches long and silver - it's vintage, but he doesn't know where it comes from. He also carries his wallet, which has a student ID, a credit card, tiny pictures of his family and friends, and some cash. His cell phone, though shiny and thin, is nothing spectacular. Because he jogged to the mall, he traveled light, and the rest of his worldly possessions are in his dorm.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(Hi dkender, sorry for the delay-- I'll do just a short bit here and can reply a lot faster the next time.)

The students near Alex parted way for him to move, downstairs there were loud voices of panic, and it was impossible to tell if it was from injury or just terror. A few people ran upstairs, and moved to the far walls, as though they expected to be shielded from an invisible explosion. They were pale and sweaty, but didn't appear to be injured. He could move downstairs, though already more people were running up, and a crowd gathered near the elevator, inexplicably. He could spot a stairwell if he wanted a faster way downstairs. Or, he could stay here for the moment, the main thoroughfares were already getting clogged and blocked with people.

[DKender]

It occurred to Alex that people were herding inside for a reason - was the street filling with toxic gas? He shifted his weight from foot to foot anxiously, then decided to stay put on the third floor, where he had a good view of the chaos. He scanned the crowd, searching for somebody with a functioning phone. They can't all be dead, right? Alex suddenly wished he knew how cell phones worked. They used invisible waves, right? Like the radio?

Unless he spots an injured or distressed person, Alex would spend the next several minutes asking strangers to use their phones. He'd gravitate toward the television broadcasting the news, too, if he realizes that it's working.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Alex checked with the students, and some others milling around. Sure enough, every phone in the area had lost connection right as they received a phone call. Some already speculated that some dramatic event must have occured, causing people to suddenly call loved ones all at once, overloading the phone service.
      A small black haired woman was messing with the television nearby, a strong looking tattooed man approached her.

Tattooed man-
"Oh hey, I know you right?"


Dark haired woman-
"Oh... hey yeah yeah! You work at Deep Roots?"


Tattooed man-
"No, but close. Savage Skin."


Dark haired woman-
"Cool yeah, I gone there. Hey so, help me reach uh...?"


Tattooed man-
"Jackson. Sure, news right?"


Dark haired woman-
"Anna. Thanks."

The two got the large television showing a news broadcast. They seemed remarkably more cool-headed than the others around them. The man was strong but very calm, and the woman had a definite take-charge attitude.
On the television was...

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

This is an earlier showing of the mummy video, but otherwise is the same as the other one, I'll post it here for reference...

The large widescreen television glowed in the dim food court lighting, its speakers emitting a vibrating hum even when there was no sound. The hum picked up as the screen grew brighter, as if the sound of the light could be heard, and changed pitch as the colors on the screen changed. One could imagine that 'red' had a distinctive sound as they would soon see a lot of it. The newscaster looked a bit pale, but kept up his serious newscaster voice as he spoke.

"This is Dennis Bounds reporting for King 5 News. We at King 5 are committed to give you any necessary information as this global disaster unfolds. There has been little time to gather information, as all events have seemed to have happened simultaneously. The solid information we have is only for our country, but there has been speculative and unconfirmed reports in several other nations.
                Panic and rioting are occurring in every major city in the United States. Reports of possible bio-terror are unconfirmed. Many casualties and destruction, though a single source cannot be named. Reports go as far as buildings collapsing and flooding though these cannot be confirmed. We do not currently have footage, but there has been some sort of disaster at the Columbia Tower. There are many reports of black smoke dispersing from the tower, though it is unknown what the source is. Government officials say only to find shelter, and stay indoors. We will stay on the air as long as possible, and deliver any further messages from officials.
                That is the only news we can legally deliver, but this is obviously more dire than we have been trained for. We must also tell you something else, that cannot be confirmed and is absolutely unbelievable. Nonetheless, eyewitness accounts report that there seems to be a strange illness spreading from the sites of these disasters. It is unknown if it is contagious, but it infects the dead, and causes them to attack the living. It seems absurd to call them "zombies" but for those familiar with that word, that is what they appear to be. We know nothing else at this time, but please keep this in mind.
                We have also been airing a disturbing video tape we were sent this morning. It was sent to all local television stations, it is unknown if there are more tapes like this, or if this is only one, local tape. We do not know more about the origin of this tape, or the meaning. We will show this tape again, but viewer, please be aware that it is very shocking and disturbing."

The newscaster waved for the techs to play the tape, and looked intently into the camera, until the screen went dark for a moment. Greenish chunks of compressed video marred the footage, which was quickly focused upon a figure. It looked to be a young teenager, maybe even a preteen, who seemed bluish in the strange light and the off palette of the cheap digital camera that filmed him. A small-ish Asian boy with limp, black hair. He was wrapped in bandages, like a comical parody of an accident victim, or a kid dressing as a mummy for Halloween. He smiled, but appeared to be in a great amount of pain. Behind him was a grid of blue tiles. He spoke, his voice blowing out the speaker at first and indecipherable, he lowered his volume and spoke more clearly. His voice was rather high and childish, but croaky and weak, like a little kid with a sore throat.

"H-hello, people..."



"We hate you all soooo much. Haha... That's why we're doing this--"

He suddenly flubbed his speech as a stream of foamy dark blood ran out of his mouth, spattering the Ace bandages and gauze over his body.
                He moved to wipe his face and lurched.

"Oh n-no, it's wh-- opening."

He sounded as if he was about to vomit, but didn't heave. The camera jerked down, leaving blurry streamers in its cheap pixelated blue-green wake. And then--

He pulled open a cavity on his abdomen, and intestines came spilling out with black blood and pale chunks of fatty tissue. He almost seemed to be giggling. The camera streaked back up to his face, creating duplicates and strange digital artifacts.

"No, I---" (An eerie whistling sound like death rattle of an old man) "Those weren't my guts. I just put them in to freak you ou-ut. Mummies take out our insides. It's really cooool. Wanna see?"
He gestured and the camera operator revealed the aftermath of his trick...

They went back to his face.

"We killed ourselves. We made ourselves into this, so we can kill you. Th-the dead are coming for you... you see it already. We sent them to kill everyone. Y-you're all going to fuck-king die. Hh-huh-heh heh. It's so fucking funn-ny. Just, just die now."

The tape cut out in a fumbling rattle and a chunky mosaic of pixels. The screen came back on the newscaster who wore the same intent look. He nodded to someone behind the camera.

"I apologize for the graphic nature of that video. Please stand by, we will report any news as it comes in, and we will replay that video in case it offers anyone a clue about what is really going on. Thank you."

The screen went black again.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Towards the very end of the video is where Ben, Sonya & Patti arrived in the 3rd floor thread at the beginning. You can write here what he does a bit, if it involves leaving to go somewhere else, otherwise I think you are ready to jump in to the 3rd floor thread! You can do a bit of "here's what I was doing..." at the beginning of your post to place you, or do it here. Alright! Welcome dkender.

[DKender]

ALEX'S SUMMER CLEANING LOG!
((OOC: He knows how to use apostrophes. He just usually chooses not to.))

Cleanup Day 2

To whom it concerns. Please give this to my family or very close friends if I die. Micah, shut up, it isnt a diary, its a log.

But aw yeah! I'll be 20 any day now. I havent looked at a calendar since May - should probably do that soon. I want to be like Sarah after I am 20 because she has a lot of calm and poise.

Today, we moved more bodies from the building. None were too familiar, tho its hard to tell when theyre rotting or mangled. I'm running out of clean clothes fast.

People think hell is a mind control personal conception thing. Thats why Jack-ill sent me somewhere exactly like Dantes inferno. It also explains my tendisee to quote Italian cantos lately. What a relief. Also people arent scared of me (not even Casey). Cool.

Still must understand our salvation! Nat says he wasnt the one to rescue 403. I'm hearing rumors about Luke and a book tho. Could it be LE GRAAL?

Day 5

So Luke did magic but does not talk about it. He paid for our lives with an eye and now resembles a pirate. TBH, Id rather lose my soul than my face. Scary.

Wish Dr. Victor gave me his photogenic memory. I can sorta recall the pictures in Le Graal, but not perfectly. If I describe them to Nat, maybe he will help more. I'll continue hanging out with him. When Stock-home syndrome kicks in he'll think I'm cool.

(During this point in time, Alex draws what he can remember and asks Nat whether any of the symbols look familiar.)((Nat says yes, they're familiar, but probably not useful without the whole book.))

I really want to learn a language thats not one of the Romances or ASL! Maybe if I ask Judy to dance during the next party, she will stop wanting a double date and teach me everything about Indonesian.

Speaking of dance! Ballroom is really fun, so why isnt it popular anymore? Mrs. Maria said Rudolph Valentino got paid to dance with ladies in ritsee clubs before he did acting. That is the best job. Mrs. Maria thought I coulda made lots of money waltzing with heiresses, just like Valentino, if Id been born one hundred years ago as a white guy. My dancer name would be Alejandro.

One week b4 the end times Mrs. Maria sent me an Easter card with twenty dollars in it. She always looked out for me, even tho I told her my savings account had about 200k so I dont need that money please stop sending it. Now I am glad that Jason did not accept the twenty dollars I tried to give him after the door incident. The bill reminds me of her. She let me talk 90% of the time when I visited the nursing home because her lungs didnt work so much. Maria was a wonderful person. I hope she did not suffer.

Day 8

Worst day.

I had to look at Kenny's stupid face and pretend to not hate him. Also Snowball hacked up something nasty on my favorite bandanna. And then I saw a UFO that was probably just a weird looking bird or cloud, but it reminded me of Chelsea Also I saw Chelsea and that reminded me of Chelsea

At least cleaning duty is fun! I put rags on my feet and slid around like a boss. Then me and the broom did tango just like Valentino in the 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse hahaha its true tho.

Day 9

Not feelin Satanism right now.

Cathleen says she is spiritual. Actually lots of people do. Thats like my ancestors. They believed in spirits. Its a nice thought, but being spiritual did not really protect them from colonialism so Id rather find a stronger religion.

NOT GONNA BE A MUSLIM it is pretty much Catholic but with Mohammed.

(At this point, Alex asks Eve why Buddhism appeals to her, and whether a Buddhist can eat meat if he thanks the animals beforehand. He has basic knowledge of zen Buddhist ethical concepts, since his roomie tried to convert him shortly before the apocalypse.) ((Eve says it speaks to her soul 'n' stuff. It makes her feel like there's a way out of suffering, hope for the future, something to strive toward. She feels like she's a bad Buddhist, which seems like a reasonable self-assessment from a dissolute alcoholic. She smells boozier than Tyrone.))

Day 10

HOW TALL IS WOODY? I want him to arm wrestle me but he might win and I can't deal with it right now. My self esteem is dead times ten.

Day 12

SNOWBALL LEARNED HOW TO SIT. He only did it once tho.

Thoughts are racing again. What if theres no heaven?

Micah said Id make Basil happy by talking in British. I should stop taking advice from Micah.

Wil and Kaya are doing much much better. Really Kaya looks healthier so maybe the meningitus will go away. Those guys are the sweetest. Poor Colonel.

Becky's weird.

I had another dream about Beau. We were sailing on Dad's boat as part of La Royale and had to fight pirates. Also Ione was a siren that died. Actually it was a nightmare not a dream.

Day 13

Can Le Graal save us? Its not good to push a man like Grandfather Luke for answers because that makes the opposite happen. Also people with dementia get frustrated. Maybe I should ask just once and run away if he takes the keys out.

(At this time, Alex would ask Luke, "What does it take to learn magic?" and run away if he sees the keys.) ((He sees the keys!))