Rolling like a Tumbleweed [Open]

The sudden intrusion of the echoing voice nearly made Rez jump out of his skin, the poor kid choking on the water he had been drinking. When he finally caught his breath, he wiped his mouth and whipped around to face whoever had spoken. What he saw caught him off guard, it was some kind of... well honestly he didn't have any better word for it besides demon. However, what interested him more was the sensation he got just from looking at the mysterious stranger who had just admitted to following him. One of many modifications that had been made to him was the ability to sense the power of those he looked at, and he could tell that this guy was at least as strong as him. That alone would have been enough to set him on edge, but the fact that he had just admitted to following him made it even worse. What if he worked for the people who changed him? What if he was here to capture or destroy him?

No, no, that wouldn't make sense. Why bother announcing himself if that was the case? And why not just take him out before he ever reached here. Still, he refused to lower his guard until he knew the man's motives, even if in his current state he probably wouldn't be able to put up much fight. He might remind Apollyus of a feral cat; weak, tired, but ready to lash out or run if threatened. "I'm just me. And you're one to talk about not knowing what someone is." He said, looking him up and down. Having deflected the first comment, now he had to deal with the second. He flinched when his clothes were tugged, looking for a moment like he might strike back or just bolt, but he finally just glanced away, guilt clear as day on his face when the stolen clothing was brought up. "What I was wearing didn't really work for the desert." He muttered. There was also the fact that he would have rather gone naked than spend another second in that damn jumpsuit, but he didn't see the need to bring that up.

"Okay, yeah, I'm lost." He said, "I'm not really sure where I am, or even where I'm heading." That was one of the more frustrating things about his fuzzy memory. He knew he used to live in a city, he just couldn't remember which one. "My name is Rez, by the way. So what, you the sheriff?" Somehow he doubted this guy was the local lawman, but it was as good a guess as any.

Rez was beginning to abandon the idea that this bizarre demon was somehow affiliated with the people who changed him. He was obviously bat shit crazy, but just because someone was mad didn't make them a mad scientist. Besides, if they had anyone else as strong as him kicking around he would have sensed it during his time in the facility, he was sure. He had just started to feel a bit more at ease when suddenly Apollyus's power skyrocketed. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he flinched again, wondering what he had done to elicit such a show of force, until the atmosphere started to return to something resembling normal. What the hell was that? Some weird demon thing that happened from time to time? Or had something set the demon off without him noticing it? His new "friend" kept getting stranger. 

The subject quickly turned to helping Rez figure out his past, and he sighed. It wasn't so much annoyance as it was despair. How was he supposed to explain this without giving away more than he wanted to. "Well, thing is, Rez isn't my actual name." He said, pulling down the neckline of his stolen clothing. They were a bit too big for him, even with how baggy they were. On his neck, in small black print, Apollyus would see three digits. R-35. Whether it was a serial number for him or just a code for whatever experiment he was involved in, he didn't know and he didn't care. "I um... woke up with this, in the desert." He wasn't the best liar, but he had no idea that Apollyus had already figured out the truth just by looking at him. He didn't want to give away everything too soon. "I figured I needed something to call myself, so I flipped the numbers around, and got Rez. As far as the earliest thing I can remember... I was in a city, a really big one I think."  It really wasn't much to go on, but it was all he had. 

The comment about him not having any life force threw him off. "I um... didn't know." He said. He had no idea what that meant for him. Had they changed him so much he wasn't technically alive anymore? Or was it some kind of masking thing, so he could sense others but they couldn't sense him? "Is that bad?" Apollyus seemed to know a lot more about this stuff than him, so he was willing to defer to the crazy guy, at least for the time being.

WC: 436

Rez had known what they did to him, or at the very least he had made a guess based on the facts. "Robot" was one of many theories, but regardless of how he was changed, he knew that whatever they did to him made him something other than human. With all that being said, hearing someone else suggest it made his heart fall out of his chest in a way he had never experienced before. Somehow, hearing those words escape another person's lips made it all so much more real than the indeterminate amount of time he had spent in that hell. He couldn't even register how shockingly correct Apollyus was in his assumption, he was reeling from that first simple statement. It took him a few moment to find his voice, and the expression on his face wasn't shock, but just sorrow.

"You're right." He said, finally deciding to cut the crap. The demon had more or less figured it out on his own already, there was no need to keep hiding anything. "The truth is I lied... I didn't just wake up in the desert, I crash-landed there when I escaped, like you said." he finally got out of the odd, hunched position he had been thus far holding, standing up at his full height. All it really did was bring into relief how small and wiry he was, in spite of the toned muscle on his body. He lifted his shirt, showing the marks on his stomach and chest, the circle right over where his heart was... or where it should be. He honestly didn't know how much of him was human and how much of it was something else at this point, be it mechanical or otherwise. "I can't remember anything before I woke up in a dark room, with these all over me. All I know is whatever they did, it lets me do... things. Like flying, or even shooting lasers out of my hands." The latter had been his salvation, the trump card he had honed until it was time to escape.

He didn't know why he was spilling all of this to someone he just met, let alone someone he was still convinced was more than a little insane. Maybe it was simply that Apollyus was being kind, and he had been starved for that for so long. Or maybe he was just looking for the first thing that could save him from drowning in his new reality. "I know I just met you but you seem like you know more about this stuff. I can tell you're strong, I can sort of... sense it on you. You're at least as strong as I am now. Could you please help me? Not just with my memories, but with the whole flying, laser shooting thing?"

WC: 470

Rez felt stupid almost as soon as he finished making his plea for assistance. Why would Apollyus help him? They had literally just met, and while the stranger had been kind thus far it was rather presumptuous to think he would agree to help him just like that. However, that was exactly what happened. One second Rez was convincing himself that he was still on his own, then Apollyus came out and said that he did, in fact, have a friend. Not just that, a teacher. To be honest, his past didn't concern him nearly as much as his future, and learning to make use of his power was key to that. He wasn't certain he knew what he wanted to do with it, to be fair, but the first step to making that decision was getting it under his control. Otherwise he'd spend his days in fear of accidentally blowing a hole through a wall every time he flicked his wrist.

Setting aside that Apollyus claimed to be three hundred years old, he responded to the demon's declaration with an astonished smile. "Thank you!" He shouted, feeling like he finally had some direction to follow. The young Android picked up on a word Apollyus used: Ki. So that was what it was called. He vaguely felt like he had heard the muffled voices of the people observing him talk about it. Ki output this, ki efficiency that. So that's what they were on about, somehow what they had done to him let him use ki.

He hadn't been planning on questioning Apollyus's age; if the demon agreed to teach him he didn't care if he claimed to be older than the stars themselves. However, when magic got brought into the mix, he couldn't hold back his skepticism. "Magic? Okay, now you're pulling my-" He started, before jumping back in alarm when he produced a freaking hamburger out of thin air! Okay, so, magic was real, good to know.

"That's incredible! Um... could I have that?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Even though it had been less of a priority than finding something to drink, he was still starving. Then the subject was brought back to his clothes. "Oh! Yeah, I guess that'd probably be a good idea." Aside from the fact that these were stolen, they were much too big for him and likely unfit for whatever training was coming next. "I'm not super picky, just something that could cover up the marks on my body please?"

WC: 424

Rez had almost finished eating the hamburger when the hotdog was offered to him. By conventional standards, they both tasted pretty terrible. However, Rez had been on a diet of nothing but tasteless nutrition bars for two years, and so the magically conjured food tasted like a five-star meal for him. He was tempted to ask for more, but he knew that he'd just wind up making himself sick. That wouldn't make a very good impression on his new mentor, now would it? Next came the clothes, and he was a bit curious what the demon would conjure up for him. Looking at Apollyus's outfit, well, it wasn't exactly his kind of thing. Thankfully it seemed that he decided to stick with the basics for now, providing a modification to the clothes he had stolen. They would certainly be a lot easier to move around in, and picking them up he could tell they were quite a bit lighter. "They're perfect!" He said, not mentioning his "taste in fashion" for now. He didn't really have one, truth be told, though he'd have to start thinking about it for later.

Next came the terms and conditions of their arrangement, and thankfully none of it disheartened him. "Th-that's fine, really!" He said when told that Apollyus wouldn't always be present or parental. He hadn't been expecting that of the demon anyway. "I can take care of myself pretty well, so even if you're not around all the time I'll be fine!" That much he could remember from his days before the facility. He had been living on his own, for what reason he wasn't sure, but he could remember the tricks he had learned to keep himself safe and secure. Plus with his new abilities, he was sure he wouldn't have much to worry about in that regard. Just knowing someone was out there who gave a crap about him, that alone would be enough for him. "So where do we start with this "ki" stuff?"

WC: 334

Rez suddenly looked nervous, thinking that perhaps he had said something to offend Apollyus. Thankfully, as it turned out, the demon just had an aversion to hard work. That Rez could deal with; as impatient as he was he wasn't going to impose on the first person willing to help him. So he'd have to wait a while, so be it. He trusted that the demon wasn't just going to abandon him, if only because it wouldn't make much sense at this point. Plus, as crazy as Apollyus was, he didn't seem like a liar. He frowned, though, when Apollyus brought up his apparent lack of ki.

If ki was how one flew, or shot energy blasts, then he had to have it otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do half the things he did. So then why did it appear that he had none, when most living things apparently had enough to sense them. Wait, maybe that was what he was sensing off of Apollyus. "Okay, um... let me try to unlock it." He said, shutting his eyes and trying to focus. If it was sealed, there had to be a way to unseal it. He stood there for a few moments, taking slow, deep breaths, looking for something inside him he hadn't even known existed until now. For a moment, his ki signature remained as inert as ever, but then suddenly Apollyus would get a sense off of him. It flared slightly, before leveling out.

Rez opened his eyes, his ki remaining detectable. "Did that do it?" He asked. He had felt a change, like flipping a switch inside his mind. He shifted uncomfortably, antsy about leaving it on this long. If it was something that could be used to identify him, there was always the possibility someone was looking for his.