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Lilac Tides

Chapter 1, Part 2

Vyrg saw what looked like a rolling meadow and they appeared to go on for miles. He could see the bright green grass leaning and swaying in the breeze but he could not feel the wind itself. Atop a slight hill stood a familiar shape and one the man instantly recognized; his mother.

She stood there, overalls stained with oils and dirt, her jet black hair whipping in the wind and obscuring her face. Vyrg's legs almost seemed to move on their own, yet he was fine with the direction they were taking him. Starting with a brisk walk and eventually evolving into a jog.

The man was moving fast but yet his mother seemed to almost get further and further away. He felt like his bounds and strides were not covering the ground they should and when he glanced down at the ground he saw his shortened legs. The world grew around him as he lost year after year and despite his constant regression in age, the man who quickly became a child moved forward. His dead mother, the woman he had buried years prior was standing there waiting for him come say all the things he never had a chance to.

He was full on running at this stage and as his little feet would connect with the ground he'd lose a month or two and by the time he finally got to the foot of the hill where his mother was standing, he was but a toddler. Small and unsure, lacking the confidence that his adult life had given him.

"Mom...." he spoke in a quiet, tiny voice and the woman turned. Her movement was slow, her body seemed to creak like an old door as she moved to face him, her whipping jet black hair starting to shift into a color that was more akin to a platinum blonde-- no white, pure white. Her eyes widened to a point of absurdity as she started down at the tot, her head tilted to the left and her lips curled into a grin, an inhuman smile.

Vyrg took a step back, this woman was not his mother, everything was wrong. Her eye color, her hair color, her height, EVERYTHING. The overalls had transformed into an expensive looking dress, glittering with sequins and a non-modest neck line that plunged low. This woman was disturbingly beautiful and strangely captivating.

He icy blue eyes locked onto Vyrg's shocked face and her grin only seemed to widen. Her mouth hung open and her pearly white teeth darkened, the redish tones of her mouth shifting to a deep purple and her darkened teeth growing jagged and sharp and hung in uneven rows in her mouth. Pink glowing saliva dripped from her fangs and fell from her chin and she began to laugh, yet her expression did not change, her lips did not move. Her chest heaved with the thick chuckle, with each moment the voice got deeper and deeper...

Vyrg's head jerked up and forward with a gasp. When his eyes finally came to focus, the man was staring at the inside of Void's cockpit. With a few hard pants and about four seconds or so to regain his composure, his hand was on the release hatch. He knew they had stopped moving a while ago based on the motion indicators within the cockpit. Void was designed to never 'crash land' and would go on auto if the pilot became unconscious.

So when Void fell from the sky it cushioned the landing enough to keep Vyrg safe, but still left a sizeable crater in the pavement below. As Vyrg depressurized the cockpit, the hatch opened up like a blooming flower and with a quick jerk forward he was out into the open air. Cords attached to his back began to pop-off in little displays of tension as he wobbly climbed out and into the crater below.

He hadn't noticed the massive crowd of people surrounding him or even their cheers. Something was off, he felt strange and oddly separate from the world around him. Taking a few shaky steps toward the lip of the crater a familiar hand reached out to take hold of his forearm and help him out of the indentation.

It was Miles, the head of the Virus Fighter's peace keeping organization. This was a big deal, Miles had showed up personally to be there when the smoke cleared. Be it a PR stunt or something else entirely, Miles still felt an obligation to be right there with Vyrg. As Vyrg climbed out of the rubble, Miles stroked his shoulder.

"You did good son" Miles informed him "I know it had to be hard" and the older gentleman's words rang through Vyrg's psyche like church bells. The overall realization that he had finally put down his greatest rival left him feeling sick to his stomach. Killing Hackers was not anything Vyrg was above doing, but it was always a last resort. Taking out Viola was never something he wanted to do, the message he could convey by throwing her in prison for the rest of her life would be much more powerful, he had always thought so at least.

Vyrg understood the implications of killing a high ranking hacker, he knew that their deaths just outraged anyone below them and did little to sway them away from pursuing further engagement. However, there was always the potential that such a massive victory as this and such a show of force on the behalf of the Fighters would demoralize the enemies.

Viola would never stop, he knew this, she'd escape from prison, every single time and a week later she'd be bringing pain. Killing her was his only choice, but it didn't sit well with him no matter how much his frazzled brain tried to justify it. "Thank you sir" he spoke in a gravely, but respectful manner. "Let's get you to the med-station immediately" and before he could finish, Vyrg interrupted Miles "No sir, I'm fine. Just tired" he informed the superior. Miles then took a second to compose himself, very much concerned for the young man.

Miles, for the better part of Vyrg's life had always saw the boy as a bit of a surrogate son, but most importantly, a money making machine. Vyrg's skills were unbridled, an ace among aces and with his custom built Orbital Suit, Void, he was seemingly unstoppable. Drivers, as they are called, are people who are born with a special level of intuitive abilities.

Drivers are exceedingly rare, so they are given certain privileges that other citizens do not have. This is under the conditions that they serve the common good by being Virus Fighters or at least adding their abilities to a greater pool of talent in order to combat the scourge. Nonchalant Drivers like Vyrg are even rarer, so when he made a request, it was often obliged.

"I'm going home... I need to sleep... I need to..." he trailed off, wanting to say forget, but stopping himself. "I just need some time alone..." the crowd was quiet at this point, trying their best to hear what the man said. Mile's had motioned to a couple of men in suits who moved in beside Vyrg. The area had been more than secured, multiple scans had taken place in the short amount of time Vyrg had been unconscious and with little to no doubt, it was safe to walk around openly in the outside.

This didn't stop Miles from being terrified of snipers and assassins, so when his own personal bodyguards moved up next to Vyrg to potentially take a bullet for him, the older gentleman took a large sigh of relief. "They'll escort you to my personal transport. Call me when you're feeling better, I have a nice little incentive for you..." Miles winked at Vyrg and with that the ace Driver was moving with the two bodyguards toward what appeared to be a hovering limo.

The crowd parted and Vyrg was inside the vehicle within minutes, the two men beside him. His head tipped back in lazy gesture of exhaustion. His mind raced, but never once did he even think about his payout, the incentive that Miles talked about. It was nothing for Fighters to get little bonuses at the end of such battles, so this was sort of expected, but right now even all the money in the world couldn't distract Vyrg from his aching guilt ridden mind.

Bringing up his wrist badge, Vyrg began to dial his girlfriend's number on the holodisplay. It rang a few times and soon he saw her lovely face projected in front of him. "Hun, I'm fine. I'm heading home to spend sometime alone" his voice was a bit shaky, which frightened her. Marie was everything to Vyrg and he had no doubt she herself had been safe, one of his requests as a Ace Driver was to make sure she was always secured every-time a Hacker attack took place.

This resulted in the young woman spending time with politicians and some of the richest people in the world inside an impenetrable bunker. This was important to him, as he could not battle properly without knowing she was safe and sound.

She replied "I know Vyrg... I saw" and she was more than understanding. She knew how Vyrg felt about ending someone's life. She knew he needed this alone time and didn't pressure him to open up. "Call me when you feel up to talking. I love you" she informed him and he returned "love you". She gave him a soft, warm smile and they said their goodbyes.

When they arrived, Vyrg had already wanted to nod off. The men escorted him inside and then parked the vehicle down the street to observe his residence for the night. Vyrg lived in a small but nice house on the south side of the city. This was a nicer district, but it was hardly the ritzier side of town and Vyrg liked it that way. He liked having normal neighbors, he liked living around regular people and because of this reason alone, it circumvented his celebrity status some.

By being readily available, it kept people from wholly worshiping him. He had fans, a lot of them, but was so down to earth with them that usually they'd lose their star-struck attitude with him in a matter of hours. Vyrg might have been an exceptional fighter, but he hated being treated like one. This was not out of a sense of humbleness but out of a need for genuine human interaction.

The man was far from perfect and would spend quite a bit more time to himself than most people do, but would always enjoy a little friendly banter with his neighbors from time to time. He was no social butterfly that was for sure. More like the guy who lives down the street from you who has the really cool job and is always willing to say hello and ask you how your day is going, no matter how busy he was.

This kept Vyrg's popularity stable and he liked the fact that he wasn't elevated to god status. He knew that with extreme fame came extreme hatred, as people seemed to want to balance someone's admiration with a healthy dose of disdain. By being who he was, doing his natural thing, Vyrg kept himself safe from the horrors of blind hero worship.

Inside his home Vyrg was undressing. Still in his Driver gear meant that getting nude would be a bit more effort than he'd normally have exert. After a few minutes of fighting with the gear, the man simply collapsed on his bed with a heavy sigh. It was hours before bedtime, but Vyrg was already asleep and for 14 hours straight he slept without a single dream.

A while after dawn, but still morning and Vyrg's eyes were open. The man stared aimlessly up at the ceiling and a numbness filled his mind. He expected to be sore as sin this morning, but he wasn't. This did perplex the man, but he had little time to pander it as his bladder was swollen and demanding release.

As he climbed out of bed loud clanking and clunking sounds followed. His driver gear had fallen off his body piece by piece as he moved from his bedroom and into the bathroom. This also perplexed him, his gear was designed to fit his body perfectly and the way it came raining off his body was akin to a child wearing oversized sporting gear.

He emptied his bladder slowly, letting out a sigh of relief and hearing a noticeable crack in his voice. Once he finished, he turned to face the mirror to see what yesterday's battle had done to his face and hair, but what he saw was not the worn tired mask of a Driver pushed to his limits, but instead the face of what he could only describe as an inexperienced, drowsy teenage boy. His eyes started to wobble within their sockets, flicking around the mirrored image nervously.

He glanced down at his body, back at the mirror, and then at his hands. He had woken up a physically different person...

(Second part of Chapter 1. Sorry for the lateness...sick cat and all. From this stage forward, the entire story is about his gradual transformation and the way he'll be interacting with the world)

Description

Lilac Tides

Chapter 1, Part 2

Vyrg saw what looked like a rolling meadow and they appeared to go on for miles. He could see the bright green grass leaning and swaying in the breeze but he could not feel the wind itself. Atop a slight hill stood a familiar shape and one the man instantly recognized; his mother.

She stood there, overalls stained with oils and dirt, her jet black hair whipping in the wind and obscuring her face. Vyrg's legs almost seemed to move on their own, yet he was fine with the direction they were taking him. Starting with a brisk walk and eventually evolving into a jog.

The man was moving fast but yet his mother seemed to almost get further and further away. He felt like his bounds and strides were not covering the ground they should and when he glanced down at the ground he saw his shortened legs. The world grew around him as he lost year after year and despite his constant regression in age, the man who quickly became a child moved forward. His dead mother, the woman he had buried years prior was standing there waiting for him come say all the things he never had a chance to.

He was full on running at this stage and as his little feet would connect with the ground he'd lose a month or two and by the time he finally got to the foot of the hill where his mother was standing, he was but a toddler. Small and unsure, lacking the confidence that his adult life had given him.

"Mom...." he spoke in a quiet, tiny voice and the woman turned. Her movement was slow, her body seemed to creak like an old door as she moved to face him, her whipping jet black hair starting to shift into a color that was more akin to a platinum blonde-- no white, pure white. Her eyes widened to a point of absurdity as she started down at the tot, her head tilted to the left and her lips curled into a grin, an inhuman smile.

Vyrg took a step back, this woman was not his mother, everything was wrong. Her eye color, her hair color, her height, EVERYTHING. The overalls had transformed into an expensive looking dress, glittering with sequins and a non-modest neck line that plunged low. This woman was disturbingly beautiful and strangely captivating.

He icy blue eyes locked onto Vyrg's shocked face and her grin only seemed to widen. Her mouth hung open and her pearly white teeth darkened, the redish tones of her mouth shifting to a deep purple and her darkened teeth growing jagged and sharp and hung in uneven rows in her mouth. Pink glowing saliva dripped from her fangs and fell from her chin and she began to laugh, yet her expression did not change, her lips did not move. Her chest heaved with the thick chuckle, with each moment the voice got deeper and deeper...

Vyrg's head jerked up and forward with a gasp. When his eyes finally came to focus, the man was staring at the inside of Void's cockpit. With a few hard pants and about four seconds or so to regain his composure, his hand was on the release hatch. He knew they had stopped moving a while ago based on the motion indicators within the cockpit. Void was designed to never 'crash land' and would go on auto if the pilot became unconscious.

So when Void fell from the sky it cushioned the landing enough to keep Vyrg safe, but still left a sizeable crater in the pavement below. As Vyrg depressurized the cockpit, the hatch opened up like a blooming flower and with a quick jerk forward he was out into the open air. Cords attached to his back began to pop-off in little displays of tension as he wobbly climbed out and into the crater below.

He hadn't noticed the massive crowd of people surrounding him or even their cheers. Something was off, he felt strange and oddly separate from the world around him. Taking a few shaky steps toward the lip of the crater a familiar hand reached out to take hold of his forearm and help him out of the indentation.

It was Miles, the head of the Virus Fighter's peace keeping organization. This was a big deal, Miles had showed up personally to be there when the smoke cleared. Be it a PR stunt or something else entirely, Miles still felt an obligation to be right there with Vyrg. As Vyrg climbed out of the rubble, Miles stroked his shoulder.

"You did good son" Miles informed him "I know it had to be hard" and the older gentleman's words rang through Vyrg's psyche like church bells. The overall realization that he had finally put down his greatest rival left him feeling sick to his stomach. Killing Hackers was not anything Vyrg was above doing, but it was always a last resort. Taking out Viola was never something he wanted to do, the message he could convey by throwing her in prison for the rest of her life would be much more powerful, he had always thought so at least.

Vyrg understood the implications of killing a high ranking hacker, he knew that their deaths just outraged anyone below them and did little to sway them away from pursuing further engagement. However, there was always the potential that such a massive victory as this and such a show of force on the behalf of the Fighters would demoralize the enemies.

Viola would never stop, he knew this, she'd escape from prison, every single time and a week later she'd be bringing pain. Killing her was his only choice, but it didn't sit well with him no matter how much his frazzled brain tried to justify it. "Thank you sir" he spoke in a gravely, but respectful manner. "Let's get you to the med-station immediately" and before he could finish, Vyrg interrupted Miles "No sir, I'm fine. Just tired" he informed the superior. Miles then took a second to compose himself, very much concerned for the young man.

Miles, for the better part of Vyrg's life had always saw the boy as a bit of a surrogate son, but most importantly, a money making machine. Vyrg's skills were unbridled, an ace among aces and with his custom built Orbital Suit, Void, he was seemingly unstoppable. Drivers, as they are called, are people who are born with a special level of intuitive abilities.

Drivers are exceedingly rare, so they are given certain privileges that other citizens do not have. This is under the conditions that they serve the common good by being Virus Fighters or at least adding their abilities to a greater pool of talent in order to combat the scourge. Nonchalant Drivers like Vyrg are even rarer, so when he made a request, it was often obliged.

"I'm going home... I need to sleep... I need to..." he trailed off, wanting to say forget, but stopping himself. "I just need some time alone..." the crowd was quiet at this point, trying their best to hear what the man said. Mile's had motioned to a couple of men in suits who moved in beside Vyrg. The area had been more than secured, multiple scans had taken place in the short amount of time Vyrg had been unconscious and with little to no doubt, it was safe to walk around openly in the outside.

This didn't stop Miles from being terrified of snipers and assassins, so when his own personal bodyguards moved up next to Vyrg to potentially take a bullet for him, the older gentleman took a large sigh of relief. "They'll escort you to my personal transport. Call me when you're feeling better, I have a nice little incentive for you..." Miles winked at Vyrg and with that the ace Driver was moving with the two bodyguards toward what appeared to be a hovering limo.

The crowd parted and Vyrg was inside the vehicle within minutes, the two men beside him. His head tipped back in lazy gesture of exhaustion. His mind raced, but never once did he even think about his payout, the incentive that Miles talked about. It was nothing for Fighters to get little bonuses at the end of such battles, so this was sort of expected, but right now even all the money in the world couldn't distract Vyrg from his aching guilt ridden mind.

Bringing up his wrist badge, Vyrg began to dial his girlfriend's number on the holodisplay. It rang a few times and soon he saw her lovely face projected in front of him. "Hun, I'm fine. I'm heading home to spend sometime alone" his voice was a bit shaky, which frightened her. Marie was everything to Vyrg and he had no doubt she herself had been safe, one of his requests as a Ace Driver was to make sure she was always secured every-time a Hacker attack took place.

This resulted in the young woman spending time with politicians and some of the richest people in the world inside an impenetrable bunker. This was important to him, as he could not battle properly without knowing she was safe and sound.

She replied "I know Vyrg... I saw" and she was more than understanding. She knew how Vyrg felt about ending someone's life. She knew he needed this alone time and didn't pressure him to open up. "Call me when you feel up to talking. I love you" she informed him and he returned "love you". She gave him a soft, warm smile and they said their goodbyes.

When they arrived, Vyrg had already wanted to nod off. The men escorted him inside and then parked the vehicle down the street to observe his residence for the night. Vyrg lived in a small but nice house on the south side of the city. This was a nicer district, but it was hardly the ritzier side of town and Vyrg liked it that way. He liked having normal neighbors, he liked living around regular people and because of this reason alone, it circumvented his celebrity status some.

By being readily available, it kept people from wholly worshiping him. He had fans, a lot of them, but was so down to earth with them that usually they'd lose their star-struck attitude with him in a matter of hours. Vyrg might have been an exceptional fighter, but he hated being treated like one. This was not out of a sense of humbleness but out of a need for genuine human interaction.

The man was far from perfect and would spend quite a bit more time to himself than most people do, but would always enjoy a little friendly banter with his neighbors from time to time. He was no social butterfly that was for sure. More like the guy who lives down the street from you who has the really cool job and is always willing to say hello and ask you how your day is going, no matter how busy he was.

This kept Vyrg's popularity stable and he liked the fact that he wasn't elevated to god status. He knew that with extreme fame came extreme hatred, as people seemed to want to balance someone's admiration with a healthy dose of disdain. By being who he was, doing his natural thing, Vyrg kept himself safe from the horrors of blind hero worship.

Inside his home Vyrg was undressing. Still in his Driver gear meant that getting nude would be a bit more effort than he'd normally have exert. After a few minutes of fighting with the gear, the man simply collapsed on his bed with a heavy sigh. It was hours before bedtime, but Vyrg was already asleep and for 14 hours straight he slept without a single dream.

A while after dawn, but still morning and Vyrg's eyes were open. The man stared aimlessly up at the ceiling and a numbness filled his mind. He expected to be sore as sin this morning, but he wasn't. This did perplex the man, but he had little time to pander it as his bladder was swollen and demanding release.

As he climbed out of bed loud clanking and clunking sounds followed. His driver gear had fallen off his body piece by piece as he moved from his bedroom and into the bathroom. This also perplexed him, his gear was designed to fit his body perfectly and the way it came raining off his body was akin to a child wearing oversized sporting gear.

He emptied his bladder slowly, letting out a sigh of relief and hearing a noticeable crack in his voice. Once he finished, he turned to face the mirror to see what yesterday's battle had done to his face and hair, but what he saw was not the worn tired mask of a Driver pushed to his limits, but instead the face of what he could only describe as an inexperienced, drowsy teenage boy. His eyes started to wobble within their sockets, flicking around the mirrored image nervously.

He glanced down at his body, back at the mirror, and then at his hands. He had woken up a physically different person...

(Second part of Chapter 1. Sorry for the lateness...sick cat and all. From this stage forward, the entire story is about his gradual transformation and the way he'll be interacting with the world)