A World of Darkness

[jackofallgeeks]

Work, damn you! The city stretched out far below, dark and dirty and grey. Even this late at night, cars packed the road and people crowded the sidewalks. The ceaseless noise of the streets was muffled by the rain pouring down from the low clouds. Damn it, work! With a mechanical whirr, Samson leaped over another of the small gaps between the crowded buildings, and landed hard on his feet. The hydraulics weren't working properly. He'd just had them readjusted. He looked over his shoulder, scanning for heat signatures, before getting to his feet to run across to the other side of the roof. The mission had gone wrong; most of his squad was dead, and now he was being chased by a Reality Deviant. This guy was worse than those nuts who believed they could fly; this guy didn't believe he couldn't fly. Samson felt his heartbeat as he splashed through the puddles that had gathered on the building. The other side was only a few yards away. A pipe grabbed his foot just as he was about to reach the edge, tripping him. He landed hard against the stones, and there was a loud crack as his shoulder hit. He couldn't tell if his shoulder or the stones had shattered; the pain was unbearable. Rainwater trained down his face as he lay there, gasping up at the sky. A flash of lightning revealed a figure, hanging suspended in the air a few feet away from Samson. It was the Deviant. He hung in the air, his leather boots about five feet up. He was clothed in a loose-fitted tunic; Deviants often dressed oddly, it was a wonder they couldn't find more of them. An amulet, glowing softly, hung around his neck, and every so often blue-white energy would spider up his form. Though the rain continued the pour, his hair blew wildly in the wind, dry. The Deviant spoke, though his mouth did not move; it was a soft sound, but was heard over even the crashes of thunder. "You and your kind have held sway long enough, Technocrat. The Reckoning is upon us, and it is time for a change." Samson struggled to get to his feet one more as the Deviant began to chant in some unintelligible language. There was a crack of thunder, and the last thing Samson saw was the Deviant's wind-blown silhouette against a backdrop of purple and grey. Then everything went white.

Comments

[starlight1184.livejournal.com]

I think your other ones have been stronger... this one reminded me a bit to much of The Matrix (though it's not identical). I liked the description of the Deviant, with the amulet. Cool touch.

My favorite part though was "Then everything went white." Wonderful play on something most people use. White instead of black. Very cool. :-)

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

This is all based on White Wolf's Wolf of Darkness, as noted above. If I've ever told you anything about Mage: The Ascension, the Technocrats refer to Traditionalists as 'Superstitionists' or 'Reality Deviants' (actually, Reality Deviants can be anything supernatural, not just mages). I think I could have a lot of fun writing in this vein. A lot of fun.

Also, it only made sense for everything to go white, considering how the end came...

See comment on Leslie's reply for more.