The First Spark (Plot)(Open)

[Lillian White]

Lillian deftly stood up and returned her whip to its resting place under her still pristinely white traveler’s cloak. The sniper round came from behind her and therefore caused the majority of the blood to spray away from her and the rest simply missed. She looked to the doctor and decided an explanation was necessary.

“A soldier came and informed me that he was ordered to ensure that Sergeant Dutch, this soldier, did not make it out of here alive and that he had no interest in us and was not here to hinder us. Now that Sergeant Dutch is dead, do you still intend to stick to the plan you laid out earlier, or have you modified your plan to incorporate effects from newfound input?”

She hoped that was elaborate enough, the nurse she had been dealing with had informed her that she was rather abrupt with her answers and that it would be more useful if she gave more information when she answered questions. Lillian decided that carrying such practices over to informative statements may also be helpful. It was far from efficient, but if she did not give others enough information to act upon then she supposed that her decreased efficiency could theoretically increase the efficiency of those around her. It was logical that things entities with components that were less efficient would have issues if components of superior efficiency were around. Either that or she had a far vaster base knowledge than others despite having no memories of her past. The former theory was simply much more likely based on the information she had.

[The Fiend]

The Doc was having a hard time focusing on Ms. White's prompt and well articulated words. Partly because there was still a ringing echo from the sound of the gun shot, but mostly because he was so enraged over being denied a rightful kill that he had gone into partial shock. Blood from the back of Muscle's face had spattered all over his already quite gore-spattered white lab coat, and this last coat of paint almost made the coat look like a suit made of blood. The Doc's blue goggles, glowing like neon in the night, were also flecked with bits of gore.

The Psychopomp Alchemist stumbled over to the corpse of Muscles Mcgoo, and he dropped to his knees. He then picked up his scalpel, lovingly caressing the blade, before plunging it into the corpses right eye socket, twisting the scalpel to the left, and then removing the blade and the eye which he pocketed in his coat. Provided he could get to Central, The Doc knew quite a few methods of alchemic information extraction methods he could perform by transmuting the eye. Of course he would need the proper tools for that sort of thing.

After the messy part was done, he frisked the body for a few minutes before recovering a wallet, a ledger of names, and a pair of dog tags, which confirmed what Ms. White had said about Muscle's real name being Sgt. Dutch, and also that the pretty boy homunculus had been known as Red Lotus or codename "Loki" as it were.

This caused the Doc to mumble to himself "How very appropriate Mr. Loki. I've never tried strapping a homunculus to a cold slab while having a snake drip venom into his organs from up above, and when I find you, and I WILL find you mark my words! I think that approach would just be the perfect brand of irony that you deserve."

After pocketing the appropriated items, The Doc stood up and finally responded to Ms. White. "Considering the fact that this place has been completely taken over by enemy hands, and that even a professional like myself has certain limitations, I'd say that the old plan is still a good one. And as much as I'd like to gut and mutilate this man that swiped my kill, I'd say self-preservation takes a priority."

The Doc glanced around the area before finally setting his eyes on a funeral procession car, loaded up with a coffin in the back. Grimmlock moseyed on over to the front door and picked the lock with one of his scalpels, softly singing something about a "Dead Man's Party" before finally opening the door. He glanced back at Ms. White. "I hope you don't mind being the designated driver my dear. The last time i drove after a grand night of killing I crashed into a lake. Admittedly floating on the water as the sun came up was quite a pretty sight, but it would probably be more than a little counter-productive given our circumstances." and with that he hopped in the shotgun seat, patting the driver's seat with his right hand.

[Red Loki (admin)]

Red's business with east entrance was finished. After giving orders to the commander to look after the wounded, Red went ahead and made his way back into the city. His plan was use of the former Amestris military command center in West City. In the haste of the evacuation, Red hoped to find that the command here might leave some goodies for him.

Any information on the on goings of Amestris was useful. By the time Red arrived at his destination the sun was beginning to climb in the sky. It was a new day, and Red was very much looking forward to what this day might bring. He had a brand new city and resources under his control. The attack on the city had taken place in less then ten hours.

Climbing the stair case of the command post, Red was not at all surprised by the condition he found the command center. There were papers and such scattered all around the place. It was quite obvious the Amestris military had tried to burn many of their documents, however they didn't have much time.

This command post had been the first priority when it came to taking over the city. It was located in the center of the city, and thus not the most easiest building to get too. However Red had made sure that the commander knew to send in The Band in first.

Red found the commander's office in an equal amount of ruin. Thankfully the desk and many of the papers here had not been scorched. Ignoring the mess of the place, Red took a seat in the revolving chair of the office. Behind him sat a wall with a single window that overlooked the back end of West City.

Kicking his feet up on the desk and placing his hands behind his head, Red felt like the king of the world. And to any spectators he looked it as well. Not a moment later Ez walked through the open door way his alchemic sniper riffle on his shoulder. "It is done."

Red couldn't help but smile at Ez's words.

[Lillian White]

Lillian nodded to the doctor as she followed him to the car, two people against an entire army did not sound like a sound tactical battle. She could see two alchemists acting as a small strike squad and taking out specific targets within the army, but taking on an entire army would be a significant task. Not impossible, just requiring the proper circumstances. She was quite surprised when she was told she would be the driver, but he did not give her much of a chance to respond to him before climbing into the passenger side of the vehicle. Then again, given his account of his personal skills at driving, she supposed she may not be the worse of the options.

She climbed into the driver’s side of the vehicle and strapped herself in. She had no plans to take more chances than necessary if she had no need to do so. Still, she figured it would be best to let the doctor know that she had no memories of her past, including what level her driving skills were at if she even knew how to drive. Deciding to see how much she knew, Lillian let her body do whatever seemed natural and sure enough the car started.

“Doctor, I feel it would be appropriate to let you know I have no memories of my past up until about a month ago so I cannot make any estimations as to our likely level of survivability during this car ride and suggest you maximize your chances by restraining yourself as I have with the built in safety devices.”

Not pausing to see his reaction she threw the vehicle into gear and flattened the gas pedal causing most of the loose objects in the vehicle to fly violently into the back. This included the coffin which under normal circumstances should not have moved. Luckily, it appeared to not done any significant damage to the back of the hearse. If there was a man in the coffin the doctor might have a clean change of clothes. She thought nothing morbid at the thought, she had survived on the food of the soldiers that had attacked her after the food she had been given had run out. If anything, she was quite pleased to learn that she seemed to possess driving skills that would allow her to out maneuver any vehicle that might follow them. She only wished she knew what she was supposed to look for while driving as an indication of who should go and stop at intersections and other information that would be useful. She had not been able to get a good view when she had been taken to the hospital so this was all a new, fun experience for her. The release of chemicals in her body, adrenaline and dopamine she believed, was a pleasant feeling.

[The Fiend]

The Doc did as instructed and put on his seatbelt. The very second in which he did so, his whole body felt Ms. White floor the gas and the car take off like a rocket. Not to say that the Doc was all that fazed by reckless speeds, in fact he always preferred not only driving in that fashion, but living as well. Whenever the Doc stopped his euphoric manic-driven brand of fun, he inevitably wound up thinking too deeply on some introspective subject. and that was never good because then the Doc started to remember what had come before. A blank figure with a smile, the sounds of ripping flesh, A door with shadowed hands.

The Doc grimaced as he placed his still gloved right palm over his face, and ever so gently removed the glowing blue goggles from his face. placing them on the dash. He then fussed with his slicked back hair, making it much more untamed. Navel-Gazing is pointless. Life shouldn't be about contemplating past mistakes. It should be about making new ones! Better to treat this world as a hallucinatory dream than to contemplate it's horrors. Yes a wonderful, intoxicating dream where nothing and no-one matters except to those subjects whom you assign importance too.

With those last thoughts in his mind and a beatific smile on his face, The Mad Doc Psychopomp closed his eyes under the light of the rising smile, and Kindly Doctor Walt opened his to find himself covered in blood and being riding in a funeral car with a woman in white in the driver's seat.

Naturally the shock from these developments caused the Doctor's eyes to go buggy. After rubbing his temples together neurotically he finally justified the woman's presence. He was helping her escape West City after the invasion of Creata. Although he couldn't grasp his major concerns.

So he turned to his companion, met her icy blue eyes with his green ones, while speaking in a far softer voice than the Mad Doc's usual monster like baritone and making far more pronounced hand movements. "Excuse me...Ms Lillian White I believe your full name was? Do you suppose the rest of the hospital staff and patients made it out of there alive. And also...why am I covered in someone else's blood? Did those Creatian rapscallions dunk me in it or something?"

[Lillian White]

Lillian turned to look at the doctor with an odd look on her face, confused by his question. Even without looking she did a sharp left turn down an alternate road. She turned to look back at the road when she could no longer rely on how far ahead she had seen in the reflection of one of the store’s windows. With rough speed, mass and distances in her mind, she could have probably driven them blindfolded if she were given the current speed on a regular basis.

“I believe you are referring to the soldier, I do not know what land or kingdom they are from. I do not know any lands or kingdoms as far as I know so I cannot fully speculate on that. As for the blood, it is from one of your numerous kills as far as I knew, though based on your question some of it may be your own and you could be going into shock. In that case, you’re a doctor and would know the best course of action based on our current situation. It would make sense as to why you wanted me to drive despite my own personal memory issues. If we need to make a quick stop for supplies to patch any wound you have you will need to direct me as to where you wish to go. Other than the hospital, which is quite badly damaged I do not know where to go. I do not know about the staff or other patients, a nurse said to wait where I was seated and that she would come back for me. That is why I was in the room when you entered fighting the enemy alchemist. As for my name, I refer back to my statement about personal memory issues so I cannot confirm or deny that it is my name or not. I gave ‘Lillian White’ as a name because those where the two first words from my memory even though they were both used as adjectives preceding ‘angel’, but while lily can be an abbreviation of Lillian, Angela and Angelina are not shortened to Angel as far as I know.”

She took a sharp right and continued her course toward what looked to be the most covered terrain taking turns that seemed logical. Larger roads meant they were more highly used and more likely to exit the city than a smaller road. Roads running perpendicular to her target would have exits onto roads running in the direction she was heading. Not going in a straight line would make them harder to both target and/or follow. While her faith in soldiers had been restored by the sniper, the odds that the random one she ran into would attack her based on all of the other soldiers she recalled encountering where still rather high. She had noticed the glowing on her face, which was faded compared to earlier though mostly diminished, in her reflection on the windshield. That made her a bigger target and safety was still a high concern.

[The Fiend]

Grimmlock blinked twice at Lillian's revelation that the blood had come from several murders that he had committed. To say that he wasn't quite expecting that response was a bit of an understatement. Kindly Doctor Walt certainly didn't remember killing anyone, except maybe in self-defense. And if then only one. He could never bear even one person in cold blood, let alone hundreds.

He was The Psychopomp Alchemist wasn't he? Escorting lost souls away from the underworld. But the details of the previous night were so fuzzy. Maybe that's because your real job is to DRAG those souls down below! A sharp voice that was not quite the Doctor's own suddenly shouted inside his head.

Shaking his head furiously to dispell the nightmarish thought, the Doc simply decided to change the subject, his memory was already starting to fill in the gaps of the previous night's endeavors with false assumptions and vague generalizations anyway.

Grimmlock slouched in his seat and turned his head towards Lillian again, answering her as best he could. "Thank you for your concern Ms. but I don't think I'm hurt all that badly, aside from the small cut here and there." He inspected his coat and body, subconsciously not touching the eyeball and scalpel in his left pocket. "See? Right as rain if not quite as squeaky clean. You said you were suffering from memory loss? That's rather interesting because I've been diagnosed with a less severe form of short term memory loss. To be honest sometimes It's like I fall asleep the minute the sun goes down. But that's just silly."

The Doc noticed a tunnel coming up ahead. "As far as the "Angel" naming convention goes maybe your being a bit too literal minded about that. It's entirely possible that whoever said it meant it as a form of endearing nickname." The Doc appraised Lillian again, noting the white hair blowing in the breeze and the bright blue eyes. "It's not that big of a stretch when you think of it like that." The Doc said all this while keeping a close eye out for any blockades of soldiers, the last thing they needed was to be held up before they could reach Central.

[Lillian White]

Lillian nodded to the doctor as he asked whether she had memory loss. As soon as he had said he was fine she trusted he was correct. He was a doctor after all and should know various risks of different injuries and whatnot better than herself. “I am suffering from near complete memory loss of anything past the moment I awoke a few weeks ago. The rest of my memory appears to be in working order though, I remember everything exactly as it was at any point other than when I was asleep, even then I could tell you for exactly how long I slept. I do remember information though, mostly physics and chemistry up until this point. It appears I am fairly adept at driving as well, so there is likely much more I do not yet know.”

She considered a moment, “Though reasons for my own memory issues elude me, yours sounds more natural than my own. The likeliest reason I can come up with is that your mind suppresses traumatic memories and that those just happen to occur mostly after dark. Though you do seem to be acting differently than before, you had no qualms taking out the group of soldiers when you thought you were defending me.”

While the other ideas were less likely, she did not like how low the likelihood of the theory she had thrown out was. Still, if it was true the doctor may simply have suppressed his memories of having killed anyone other than in self-defense. She was drawn from her contemplation when the doctor spoke about her personal choice in names.

“I do not understand what is not all that big of a stretch, but the ones who were there when I awoke were fighters of some sort. Before I had even gotten up the location I was at was attacked and the soldier instructed me to run so I did. When he initially found me that was all he had found a ‘lily-white angel’. I cannot definitively confirm or deny whether I am one of these angel creatures, though from the knowledge I have I am working under the assumption I am not a creature that is likely mythical. As for being lily-white, no part of me that I know of is that shade of white. No matter though, I solved this dilemma by avoiding it through choosing to use the adjective, however improperly accurate it may be, as a name for those who insist on calling me something other than my real name which I do not know myself and therefore would likely not respond to it if called by it. Though off topic, I do not know if you have a specific destination in mind, but I have no idea where exactly it is we will end up and am simply traveling along a path I believe will get us out of town and under some natural cover of sorts. I do not even know where I am, though I can retrace back anywhere I have been if you desire to do so. I would recommend against that as that would involve heading back toward the hospital which you seemed quite intent on getting away from earlier.”

[The Fiend]

The Doc sighed, stretching his limbs out on the car so that he slouched against the leather cushioned seat. Trauma induced amnesia? was that possible? It would explain so much, maybe even why he couldn't remember a single night since that night. but maybe subconsciously the good doctor did not want to remember, because at the first sign of a change in conversation, the Psychopomp alchemist was all too quick to completely forget the topic for the new one at hand.

As he stared lazily out the window, watching green hills pass by and sandy barens come up ahead, the Doc simply muttered "I believe Central would be most prudent for our goals at the moment my dear. I know people there who would be most interested in the things that we have seen here today, and I have stored a number of the important tools of my trade at my office at headquarters there as well." The Doc sighed and placed his left palm over the whole of his face, covering everything but his right eye, all while clenching his fingers. he said with hint of agony in his voice "As for my question about the fleeing patients...chalk it up to naive idealism Ms. White. Although it pains me to admit this, it probably wouldn't be wise to return to the hospital. I fear that my office and a good portion of my favorite staff members and patients, are lost to me forever. Best to move on I think."

[Lillian White]

Lillian nodded, the likely loss of the other patients and his staff didn’t seem to bother her at all. To be quite honest, she hadn’t really been bothered by anything that had happened to her so far that night. She had her book on her lap and her whip hidden at her side beneath her robe. She still had those so she was fine as far as she was concerned. Ethics and morality really hadn’t been relearned so the lives of those she had killed did not burden her soul in the least. In fact, if anything she had been exposed more to killing than anything else since her memory seemed to begin.

“Then we will head toward this Central you speak of. I am curious as to whether it is a military base, a town or some other location. Is it the center of the country perhaps? That would be appropriate for its name if that is the case. You may wish to check the back of this vehicle, there may be clothing within the clothing that you can switch into so that you are not covered in blood. Though I would advise more elegant attacks when possible to minimize the blood that accumulates on your own clothing.”

She continued driving, seeing the city itself thinning out more and more telling her that she was finally getting near the edge of the town. “I do have to request more concise direction though Doctor, I have no idea where I am going and logical deductions will only assist me in exiting the city for a very short period of time. After which I will only be driving to increase the distance between us and those who wish us harm for reasons unknown to me.”